The New Girl
by JantoFan
Summary: This is my first fan fiction, so please be nice!: How will the team react when someone new comes through the rift, something they've never encountered before...? Jack/Ianto, 10Doc/Rachel, slight implied Jack/Gwen. R&R please!
1. An Unexpected Find

**Unfortunately, neither Torchwood nor any of the characters in it belong to me. i own only the unknown.**

* * *

"How bad is it, Tosh?"

Gwen peered over Toshiko's shoulder, trying to make sense of all the numbers and symbols on her computer screen

"These readings are off the scale, I haven't seen such a big spike in rift energy before. Probably why Jack wants more than one person to go look."

"What are we waiting for then?" asked Owen, emerging from the autopsy room with his gun, "Lets go check it out. Mind you, last time Jack wanted us to check out unusual rift activity it was just an excuse to get us out of the Hub…" He glanced meaningfully at Ianto, who flushed slightly.

"Yes, well, I'm coming with you this time aren't I?" Owen just stared at him, grinning to himself as the flush on the young Welshman's face deepened. It was one of his favourite pastimes these days, winding Ianto up about his relationship with Jack. Probably, he realised, because he no longer had a life of his own. Being dead did that to a person.

"Why are you lot still here?" Owen glanced up to see Jack hanging out of his office door glaring at them, "If something is coming through that rift, I need you guys to go pick it up! I do NOT want a repeat of what happened last time!"

"Last time?" Gwen asked, looking round at the others, "what happened last time? And where the hell was I?"

All three flinched. "You were still on your honeymoon," Ianto explained, "and lets just say it involved two tennis rackets, a large net, and a hell of a lot of retcon."

Wondering just exactly what did come through the rift last time, Gwen climbed into the front of the SUV. Whatever this thing was, she hoped it was half as much fun as the other thing sounded.

* * *

"There's nothing here, Tosh" Ianto reported "better tell Jack we're heading back to base"

"He says not to. That rift spike was huge; there is no way nothing came through. Maybe you're just in the wrong place?"

"Easy for you to say" grumbled Owen "You're not in the middle of bloody no-where are you?"

Toshiko smiled. Owen really hated the country. Not that she could blame him after what had happened...

"Ok Tosh, tell that git Jack we'll look for a bit longer, but…"

"Ianto! Owen! What is that?" the two men turned to where Gwen was pointing. About 30 metres away, at the foot of a high wall, was a huddled shape.

"That can't be it, surely?" demanded Owen "it's much too small!"

"Which, as I keep pointing out to Ianto, is no indication of what it can do," came Jack's voice over the headset, "so be careful"

The figure sat up suddenly, staring at them. It appeared to be a human girl, couldn't be more than about 20. She looked tired and scared. As she looked from one person to the other, confusion grew on her face.

"Are you ok, sweetheart?" called Gwen.

"Where am I?" the girl asked, as if Gwen had not spoken. English. Definitely human, surely? "who are you?"

"It's alright; we're not going to hurt you."  
"Sure." Her eyes focused on them, "I suppose you just felt like taking those guns for a walk?" now that she was fully awake, all the fear seemed gone from her face to be replaced with bravado. But Gwen noticed that her eyes still darted nervously, seeking escape. "You do not want to shoot me. You have no idea what I can do."

"No-ones going to shoot you. Just tell us who you are. What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"My name's Rachel Fielding. I…." she trailed off, looked around her wildly. "…by myself!? But…where is he?" she looked frantic now; "I have to get back to him!"

"Who?" asked Owen, his gun still drawn. His certainty that this girl – Rachel – was a harmless human was fading fast. Ianto seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Gun still drawn, he was slowly inching to the girl's left, blocking escape. Gwen, however, did not seem so sceptical, as she had lowered hers. "We can help you find your friend. Come with us, we can help." But Rachel's eyes seemed drawn to the lowered gun. Before any of them had a chance to react, she leapt into the air, pushed off from the wall and was suddenly, somehow, behind Gwen. Holding Gwen's gun. If it hadn't been for the severity of the situation, Owen felt he would have been impressed with this display of acrobatics. Staring at Gwen's pale face, he suddenly became aware that Rachel was talking,

".…so just let me go, ok? I will kill all of you if I have to. I need to get back to the…to my friend." Owen nodded and lowered his gun a fraction, and she began to back away, the gun still pointed squarely at Gwen's head. Then, suddenly, she jerked and collapsed to the floor. Ianto stood above her holding a stun gun. "Ianto" Owen breathed "I have honestly never been so happy to see you use your weapon."

"That's what Jack usually says" replied the Welshman, straight faced. "Now, can you give me a hand getting her to the SUV?"

* * *

"How's our guest?" Jack asked as Ianto emerged from the cells 8 days later.

"I don't know" Ianto admitted. He seemed concerned, so Jack went over to him and pulled him into a hug. "She seems fine. It was her that came through the rift anyway. Seemed rather shaken up to find she was on 21st century Earth. She assures me she's human though. Seems like a nice girl, very friendly."

"Ianto, you are not supposed to be making friends with unknown captives!"

Ianto flushed "I am not 'making friends'! but is it really necessary to still have her chained up?"

Jack sighed. "I guess not. I'll have Owen take them off her. And you've already been down to see her 3 times today!"

"So? She's nice to talk to. We get on well. Its like we … click." "Not like that!" He added hurriedly as Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Ianto Jones, you are lucky I am not the jealous type!"

"As if you could ever be jealous" Ianto teased, pulling Jack closer and kissing him softly on the lips.

"True" smirked Jack "I know I'm enough to keep you satisfied…"

Ianto smiled slightly. Jack was always so self confidant. When Ianto was in a bad mood he could almost think of him as arrogant. Jack pulled him in for another kiss. He responded for a second, then remembered something and pulled away.

"Oh – and she keeps asking for you."

"For me?" Jack frowned "Why? Do I know her?"

"How should I know? I told her where she was and she started asking for you to see her."

"Not a good idea captain" Owen walked up to the two men, who instantly jumped apart. Shaking his head slightly, Owen handed Jack a piece of paper, "Just finished her latest blood work and the results are … strange."

"Strange how?" asked Jack gazing at the piece of paper.

"Strange like, she seems human right? But her white blood cell count is off the chart, and there are several proteins I've never seen before, and…" he trailed off.

"And what?"

"Well – it could be nothing- but her muscles are seriously, um, enhanced"

Jack stared at him. "Enhanced?"

"Yeah – this girl is fucking powerful. Definitely not a normal human body. Who knows what she could do to you."

* * *

Mind you, Owen thought as he watched her sleep later that night, She really does seem kinda harmless. He jumped about a foot in the air when she sat up sharply.

Realising her chains were no longer on her, she stood up and went over to the door. Running her hands over it.

"There's no point" Owen told her, smirking in satisfaction when _he _made _her_ jump. She hadn't realized he was there. "These doors are alien. Unbreakable"

"Nothing is unbreakable" she murmured, still examining the door. "At least, I can break anything." She looked at him, in a way which made him feel very uncomfortable. Was that a threat? Or just a statement? She was certainly strong enough to break anything… "Except those doors" he said to himself. "Anyway" he raised his voice so she could hear him "yes, um … night"

"Yeah" she said vaguely. He turned back as he reached the exit. She was still intently examining something in the top corner of the plastic. Owen felt a chill run down his spine, but he had no idea why.


	2. The New Girl

"I don't know, Jack." Ianto turned to face the man lying next to him, "I just don't feel right keeping her like that"

"Can we not talk about Rachel right now?" murmured Jack, reaching over to kiss him. Ianto pulled back. Jack sighed. "look, I had Owen take the chains off last night, before I came over. There's not much she can do to me anyway, it's not like I'm going down to see her. Now can we drop this?" he took Ianto's palm and kissed it softly.

Irritation flickered briefly on the younger man's face, but then was gone so quickly Jack was not even sure it had ever been there. "Sorry. You're right" Ianto pulled him close and kissed him passionately. "I don't exactly want to be thinking about her right now either" he grinned playfully.

"I should hope not! I want to me the only thing on your mind when we're together!" Laughed Jack, pulling the young man to him…

The next morning, Jack awoke early and just lay there, watching Ianto sleep. It was really quite sweet, the way he cared so much about Rachel's treatment. He couldn't bear to see another human being suffering, not if he felt they had done nothing wrong. Jack smiled. Ianto could be so empathic. It was one of the things he _…loved…_ liked about him. Sighing, he realized that if he didn't wake Ianto up, they would be late for work. Shame. He really was gorgeous when he was asleep.

* * *

Rachel jumped back from where she had been standing beside the plastic door when the young man approached. "Hey Ianto."

He smiled at her. "How are you Rachel?"

"Much better now I don't have those stupid chains on." But she seemed pre-occupied with something.

"Is Jack going to see me today? I need to speak to Jack"

"I told you, he isn't going to see you. You could be dangerous."

"Do you think I'm dangerous?" Ianto studied the girl for a minute. Sure, Owen said she had very non-human aspects to her. But not all aliens were harmful. She was certainly nice to him. He smiled at her "No. I don't think you're a threat. But Jack is not going to come down here." She nodded, sadly.

"I'm sorry Ianto."

"What for? You haven't done anything. Have you?"

"No. But I'm sorry for this." She quickly turned and sprinted towards the back wall. Bemused, he opened his mouth to ask her what she was doing. But then she jumped up, planted her foot firmly on the wall, and propelled herself back towards the unbreakable plastic wall. Which promptly shattered as she hit it.

"Byodec design" she hissed in his ear as she grabbed him by the throat, fumbling at his hip to retrieve his gun and hold it up to his head. "Very strong. Unbreakable in fact, unless you know the secret, so whoever told you they were was usually right. Fortunately, for me at least, I do know the secret, coz I've seen them made. Now, I'm going to need to go and see Jack. And you are going to help me."

Ianto swallowed, very aware of the gun pointed at his temple "I believed you." He whispered "you promised you weren't going to harm us. I… I thought we were friends"

The grip on his neck loosened. "Ianto, we are friends. I would _never_ hurt you. Or anyone else unless I had to. It's just… I need to make sure the others won't shoot me. This is the only way I can guarantee that they won't." she turned him to face her, looked into his eyes "do you trust me?"

"Go to hell"

She blinked, and gave him a wounded look. "I will not let you get hurt Ianto. If they do start shooting at me I promise I will get you out of harms way." She thought, and bit her lip. "But if you tell them I won't hurt you, I may have to." She paused. "I mean, if it was just one shooter I could probably dodge. But I've never tried against four. That's why I need you."

Ianto's mind was reeling. The nice, sweet girl he had come to like, who he had persuaded Jack not to chain up, was now holding him at gun-point. When had he become such a bad judge of character?

"What are you going to do to Jack?"

"Nothing! I swear. I just want to talk to him"

"You will pay for this"

"Ianto, honey, please, you sound like a bad movie" she bit her lip "Sorry. That was rude. Mind you," she said, almost to herself, "what more do I expect?"

"JACK! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Jack froze in the middle of briefing Toshiko about a rogue 'animal' that had been reported downtown.

"What the hell? Who IS that?" he wondered

"Rachel" Toshiko realised. "Did Ianto let her out of her cell?"

He better not…" Jack began, then stopped as he saw what was going on down below. Owen and Gwen were crouched behind desks, weapons drawn, aiming at something down by the entrance to the cells. And what that something was, was Rachel, holding an extremely pale Ianto at gunpoint.

Was this going to work? Rachel wondered. For all that she'd said to Ianto, if he did shout out that she said she wouldn't hurt him, or would get him out of harms way if they shot, she wouldn't _actually_ kill him, or let him get killed. Truth be told, she'd never really killed anyone. Unless they were trying to kill her. Which in order to keep her sane, she had convinced herself was necessary.

"JACK!" she called again, painfully aware of the two muzzles aimed in her direction.

"Ianto" it was barely more than a whisper, but she stared up, and there was Jack, concern and anguish written all over his face as he watched the man she threatened.

* * *

Jack Harkness stared at Ianto, trying to work out if he was ok. "Ianto" he breathed. Evidently he had spoken louder than he realised, because Rachel's head jerked up and she saw him. To the surprise of all five of the Torchwood team, her face softened instantly, and she smiled. "Aww!" she said quietly, so even Ianto struggled to hear, and the others didn't even realise she had spoken, "I _knew_ you would be the one he cared about most!" she turned her full attention back to Jack, "I just want to talk to you!"

"You should have thought of that before you threatened Ia… before you threatened my team!"

"I swear, I don't want to hurt him. And I'm not going to, unless you force me. I just needed a way to ensure you wouldn't shoot me!"

Jack was forced to admit that made sense. In fact, he'd done a very similar thing to escape, back when he was with the Time Agency. "Ok" he called down "Gwen, Owen – lower your weapons. Rachel, let Ianto go and you can come up to my office."

To his relief, she let go of Ianto, who hurried away to join Gwen behind the relative safety of the desk. Warily, never taking her eyes off him, she walked over and climbed the stairs to where Jack was.

* * *

"So? I'm waiting" Jack watched the girl pacing his office. She seemed so … human. So normal. It was hard to believe what Owen had told him. Mind you, he had seen all sorts. He had met aliens who acted more human than some humans he knew. Especially those in the 1910s.

"I need to get back to my friend." She said in a rush. "I was with him on Zyclon7"

Jacks eyes widened in surprise. Zyclon7 was well known for being a rather hostile planet, and it was also in one of the furthest Galaxies from Earth. He didn't even know the rift went that far. He certainly hadn't seen anything from that part of the Universe here before.

"So how did you end up here? That's too far to travel, surely, even by most teleport systems"

"The queen took … issue to us being there, and so she 'poofed' me someplace else. I can only guess whatever power she used activated the rift, because I certainly wasn't supposed to end up on Earth. I swear I was never going to hurt anyone. I was just so … scared."

Jack considered her. She certainly seemed to be telling the truth. He reached into his desk and pulled out two glasses, then went over to his cabinet to retrieve some Scotch. "Do you want some?" he asked over his shoulder as he hunted for the bottle.

"Please."

Having located the bottle, he turned around. Rachel had sat down, so he went back over to the desk and poured out two glasses.

"Cheers" he said, and downed his in one gulp, before re-filling it. "So, why won't you tell us who this 'friend' is? All you ever say is that you need to get back to him…"

"It's the Doctor" she cut in quietly.

Jack blinked. Boy; THAT he had not been expecting. "The Doctor? As in … as in _my _Doctor? The same guy?"

"You mean a Time Lord who travels around in a TARDIS? I don't think there are that many of those around so I'm guessing it is the same guy, yes."

"So is he coming here?" Jack was not looking forward to having to explain The Doctor to the others, especially Ianto. They had never really gotten over him leaving with him.

"No". Tears snaked down her cheek, "He doesn't know where I am. That's why I need you to contact him for me"

Jack sighed. "I'm sorry. I have no way of doing that."

"But don't you have a phone number? _Something?_"

"I'm sorry. I really am. So…are you human?"

"Yep. Just a normal 21st century Bristol girl"

"Then what's up with your bloods? And your muscle analysis? Those results are definitely not human."

"A while back, we got stranded on Ugo. It's a planet" she added, noticing his blank look, "It's used for training Kalamarai warriors. They were low on recruits so they … trained me. Pumped me full of alien antibodies to make me stronger, and stuck me in this sort of … tank. Next thing I knew, it was 10 days later and I had suddenly turned into Ninja Girl. Only with added strength and speed and stuff. Luckily the Doctor managed to get me out of there before I had to do any actual fighting."

"Wow." He stared at her. What the hell must she have gone through?

"So anyway, that's my explanation for how I can fight amazingly, perform gravity defying jumps, and have super strength and super speed. Are you sure you can't contact The Doctor?"

"I'm sure."

She sighed heavily. "Um…could you get me some water?" she held out her now empty glass. Jack stood and went over to fill it from the jug next to where the Scotch had been.

"I don't understand" she was saying, "I was so sure he'd come and find me, but he hasn't." she sniffed.

Jack turned around to walk back to the desk. Something was wrong. He frowned as he tried to work out what was different. But could think of nothing. Shrugging, he dismissed the thought and handed her the glass.

Draining what was left in his own glass, he re-filled it again from the Scotch bottle.

"You know" he said, struggling to comfort the distressed girl, "the Universe is a pretty big place" _why the hell was he suddenly so tired?_ "He just may not have found you yet."

"Maybe" she sounded unconvinced. "but in the meantime, you won't be telling anyone about this. I don't want them knowing I travel with him."

The way she said it made Jack feel uneasy. It hadn't sounded like a request, It had sounded like a fact. He blinked, suddenly struggling to stay awake. "what do you mean, 'wont'?"

She looked at him, smiling. "you won't be able to you know," she told him, "stay awake I mean. I spiked your drink with retcon whilst you were getting me some water. It's mixed with sedative as you know."

Suddenly he realised what had been wrong. The box where he kept the retcon pills had moved.

"What the hell! How much did you give me? You could leave me brain damaged if you don't know what you're doing!"

"Oh, don't worry, I do. I altered what you had slightly with this" she waved what appeared to be an eyeliner pen at him. "it's my sonic eyeliner. Kinda like the sonic screwdriver. Anyway, I modified the pill. You should only forget the last … what … 10 minutes?"

Jack stared at her in disbelief. The least he'd managed to get the pills to work for was 5 hours.

"10 mig…nid… 10 minutes?" he could hardly keep his eyes open now. He realised he should have called for the others when he first realised what she'd done. She'd distracted him by talking and now it was too late. He barely had the energy to talk let alone shout. "I will…" he began, then keeled over and was asleep.

Rachel re-filled her glass with Scotch, and put Jack's into his hand. She sat down again, nervously watching him sleep. If one of the others looked up here before he woke up, everything would be ruined. She sat there like that for 15 minutes, running endless scenarios through her head in which they thought she'd poisoned him. She was really beginning to freak out, when he sat up suddenly and looked at her, then looked down at the drink in his hand.

"Cheers" he said, as though there had never been a break in the conversation. He downed his drink. "So, why won't you tell us who this 'friend' is? All you ever say is that you need to get back to him…"

"That doesn't matter." She broke in, "just trust me when I say that I mean no-one any harm, and neither does he. All I want to do right now is help you. I've seen a lot of things, alien things. I can help you here. You just have to trust me."

To his intense surprise, Jack found that he did. He felt warm towards her, as though she had entrusted him with some special secret. But he could think of nothing.

"In that case, Miss Fielding" he smiled "welcome to Torchwood".


	3. The Mission

Jack sat in his office, watching the team work below him. Toshiko and Gwen were trying to work out something to do with the rift; Owen and Ianto were out checking up on it. And Rachel sat at Owen's desk, examining an alien artefact. It had been over a month now since she had come through the rift. He watched her for a while, thinking. When the hell had she become a proper member of the team? He honestly couldn't remember how they had got some things done without her. Even Owen was (grudgingly) impressed by the extent of her knowledge of most things alien. And there were some field missions some of them would never have come back from if she weren't so good at kicking ass. Jack sighed. Still the rest of the team didn't trust her. They hadn't spoken to her properly since he'd instated her (unofficially of course. Any attempt to properly hire her would have involved some very awkward questions, and Jack had no desire to get bogged down with more paperwork). Except for Ianto. It had taken him a while, but he had forgiven her for holding him at gunpoint. Now they were almost inseparable. The extent of the young man's ability to forgive amazed Jack sometimes. He was pleased, obviously, for he felt that if Ianto weren't quite so forgiving, they would not be doing … whatever it was they were doing. What were they doing? It had started off as just a part time shag, a way of making them both feel better. But now… he thought about the way his heart beat just that little bit faster when he was around Ianto, the way his stomach flipped slightly when they touched, even by accident. Jack didn't like it. He didn't want to feel this way about anyone, not when he would have to leave them behind….

His train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Jack?" it was Rachel "Jack. I thought I recognised this, and I was right."

"So, what is it then? Weapon?" he asked, grinning, "Honestly how did we ever manage without you?"

She smiled. "Flattery will get you everywhere. Anyway, it's nothing major. Sort of like a sleep grenade. This baby gets activated and BOOM! Mass unconsciousness for about 18 hours. A good way of dealing with a lot of enemies, without killing them."

"And that's nothing major?! Sounds great, get Ianto to stick it in the vault."

As she turned to leave, the phone rang. "Hang on a minute would you, Rach?" he said, and picked it up. "Hello? … yes sir … yes, I understand … no, I think we have someone perfect for that. … Um…new girl. Trial period. No … I understand that, but … yes. Yes of course. Goodbye." He hung up, and sat there looking at the phone.

"Err – Jack? You ok?"

He looked up at Rachel. "… Yes. Sorry. Right! Briefing needed!" he leant out the door "Gwen! Get Owen and Ianto back here, if they haven't found anything by now, I very much doubt they're going to! Briefing in ten!"

"What the hell was that about?" wondered Toshiko.

"No idea babe" Gwen replied, turning on her headset to get hold of the boys, "but whatever it was, I doubt we're going to like it."

* * *

"I just had a very interesting call from UNIT." Jack began as soon as they were all seated. "A school about 25 miles from here. The pupils are acting … strangely."

"How strange? Like that school in London with the mega-geniuses?" Owen queried.

"No. nothing like that. They're all… um … ok this is going to sound silly, but they're all taking up construction classes. Metalwork, woodwork, everything like that." There was a puzzled silence.

Ianto looked up. "And why is that our problem? What, are they planning to take over the world with candlestick holders and badly made spice-racks?"

Owen snorted, and Jack shot him a Look. "We don't know what they're doing." He admitted "but UNIT want us to check it out"

"So, what, one of us has to pose as a teacher?" Gwen sounded worried. "Bags it's not me, I was rubbish at school."

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of … a pupil." He looked at Rachel.

"No. No way." Gwen was staring at him. "Jack, she's just a child."

"exactly." He said "they won't suspect her. A new teacher turning up and they may be suspicious. A student can make friends, find out stuff."

"It's too dangerous Jack!"

"Rachel can handle it!"

"I have handled worse." the girl admitted. Gwen glared at her.

"That's not the point; she's not even official Torchwood! We can't go putting her into an unknown situation like that!"

Jack sighed. God she annoyed him sometimes. "Gwen, she is willing to do this. And she can handle herself well. You should know, she saved your butt last time we went out! She can do this."

Gwen glared. She did not like to be reminded that the little new girl could handle things better than she could. "Fine. But if this doesn't work out…"

"It will" he said, soothingly. "I promise. Now, Rachel, we need to come up with an identity for you…"

* * *

A week later Jack and Rachel were driving towards the school in Gwen's car. They would have taken the SUV, but Rachel pointed out that the word 'Torchwood' written on the side might have given away the game slightly. For a secret organisation, they advertised a lot.

"So, tell me your life story." He commanded, "Without looking"

"Ok." She thought. "I am Rachel Harper, 16 years old. I live in Cardiff with my dad Captain James Harper aka you, His wife Gwen Harper, my brother Owen, and his girlfriend Tosh." She paused. "Why isn't Ianto part of my little make-believe family?"

"I couldn't think of a believable role for him to play" Jack told her "somehow I didn't think that Daddy's other shag would go down too well."

"Really?!"

He grinned. "Plus, if they are going to try and keep an eye on us, he can sneak around without suspicion."

"You think they might watch you? How is that going to work, isn't Gwen going to want to go home to Rhys?"

"We've sorted it. I didn't tell him the whole story, didn't think he'd be too happy with his wife living with someone as handsome as me. But anyway, we're all going to stay at Toshiko's flat."

"Cool." Rachel stared at the road ahead.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Jack asked, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll be fine. Like I said, I've been in worse situations. Why anyway? What happened to 'she can do this'?"

"Because despite what I said to Gwen, the fact remains that you are only 19. And, like it or not, I do feel responsible for you."

"I don't need you to Jack" she was silent for a few seconds, "but thank you"

"You're welcome."

The car pulled into the long driveway and they saw the school for the first time.

"God, this place looks gloomy" Rachel commented "just for once; couldn't the bad guys carry out their plans in, like, a 5 star resort?"

Neither of them noticed the figure in the bushes. It watched them as they parked and went into the school, before slowly turning round and melting back into the shadows. These two could be trouble. And that could not be allowed.

**To Be Continued...**

**_Any comments/reviews greatly appreciated :)_**


	4. Changes

She had been there for two weeks now, and nothing. As per Jack's instructions, Rachel had managed to integrate herself with the most influential students in school. And none of them had so far expressed any interest in the more 'creative' subjects.

This was a waste of time. What the hell had UNIT been thinking? Ok, so a lot of the kids were building stuff, and not necessarily recognisable stuff, but how could they be a threat? It was ridiculous.

"Hey, Rach?" Rachel looked up to see Cindy standing over her. "Rach, we're going to be late for maths"

Putting away the notes she had been writing, Rachel sighed and grabbed her bag. She sure as hell didn't imagine she'd be back at school again. She had thought those days were happily behind her.

* * *

"Have you heard anything from her?" Ianto asked as he brought Jack another cup of coffee.

"Nope." Jack saw the look of concern on his lover's face and, despite what he had said about not being the jealous type, felt a slight pang at the obvious affection Ianto felt for the girl. He covered it well. "That's probably a good thing," he told Ianto "I told her only to use her headset in emergencies. And besides, you'll be seeing her at the weekend, wont you?"

That was the rule. Boarders at the school had no access to telephones during the week, but were allowed to visit home during the weekends. That was when, provided she didn't run into any problems, Rachel could report to them. They had, however, now had two consecutive weekends, with nothing to report.

Jack took a sip of his coffee and grimaced. "Damn, Ianto! Are you sure you couldn't bring the coffee machine here? This stuff just does not compare."

Ianto smiled at the look on Jack's face. "Sorry, sir. It was too big to get out of the Hub."

That was one of the bad things about having to live at Toshiko's. Only the very necessary things had been bought from the Hub, which meant that several times Jack had wanted something which just wasn't there. And he couldn't even go to the Hub in case he was followed, had to rely on Ianto to bring anything they needed with him when he visited. With a sigh, Jack turned back to the report he was reading.

* * *

"You're WHAT?!" Rachel looked at her 'friend' in horror.

"I'm. Taking. Up. Woodwork" said Rebecca, as though talking to an idiot.

"But…why? I thought you said anything that involved the use of your hands in a lesson was a waste of time, as it wasn't going to get you into a good Uni?"

Rebecca tossed her long black hair, attracting admiring glances from several of the boys seated nearby. "Did I? Well…I was so immature. I've grown up since then"

"It was yesterday!"

"Whatever. Hey, you should join in! It'll be great fun!"

Rachel felt a stab of unease. Was it mind control? Drugs? She couldn't work it out. One thing was for sure, and that was that Rebecca was not going to take up woodwork without some sort of influence. Should she call for Torchwood?

_No. _said a little voice in the back of her brain. _Calling in to tell them about this will show them you can't cope. This is the first sign that anything weird is causing this, its not like you're in immediate danger. Besides, you've handled all sorts. Daleks. Flitters. Demus. You can handle a bunch of teenagers armed with chisels and hammers. Maybe joining this group could give you the 'inside scoop', so to speak?_

"Sure, why not?" she said aloud. "I'll come to the next lesson. After all, what's the worst that could happen?"

Which just went to show how wrong someone can be.

* * *

The following weekend saw Toshiko standing outside the school gates, waiting. She wasn't in the best of moods, probably due to the rain. And due to the fact that Gwen got to sit in the car, because she was speaking to Jack and couldn't risk being overheard. She waved as she saw Rachel emerge from the front doors. A huge grin burst onto the young woman's face, and her walking pace increased slightly.

"Tosh!" she called as she got near. "What are you doing here! I was expecting Dad!" It was true that Jack normally came to get her, but Toshiko frowned uncertainly. "Rachel, didn't Ja– um, didn't James arrange that I was coming this week? I'm sure you were told last weekend."

"Was I?" Rachel frowned briefly, and then an unconcerned look washed over her face. "Oh well, I must have forgot. Its great to see you, how's Owen? Did he…"

But just what Rachel wanted to know about Owen, Toshiko never found out, as at that moment they came within sight of the car and Rachel spotted Gwen. She froze, and a look of intense dislike appeared.

"What," she demanded, "is SHE doing here?"

Gwen looked up, surprised. They were close enough for her to have heard this exclamation. Ignoring the look on the young woman's face, she smiled brightly.

"Hey babe" she said cheerfully as Rachel climbed into the car. "How is everything?"

The look that Rachel directed at her could have killed. "Like you care. Just because you married dad, does not make you my mother!" she muttered something Gwen couldn't hear, due to Toshiko starting the engine and driving off, then turned away rudely and stared out the window at the trees flashing past.

"Rachel? Is everything ok? I mean, are we free to talk?"

"Why wouldn't it be? Just don't expect me to talk to you." She turned her attention to Toshiko. "So, have you and Owen managed to find a flat yet? I mean, you can't go on living with me and dad forever, can you?"

Toshiko and Gwen exchanged startled looks. Why was Rachel talking about her fake family story? Was she bugged or something? She certainly wasn't indicating so. It was as if… Gwen looked sharply in the mirror at Rachel. Had they got to her? She seemed to think that the cover story was real life…

"Could you drop me off here, Tosh?" she asked "I need to pick up a few things for James' dinner."

"Sure" said Toshiko, giving her a look that plainly said _what the hell are you doing?_

_Trust me_ Gwen tried to convey back. As soon as the car had driven out of sight, she activated the earpiece she wore. "Jack?...yeah, its Gwen…listen, we may have a problem with Rachel…"

* * *

Rachel opened her eyes. And looked around. She was shackled to the wall in what looked like a deserted corridor. Except that on the walls… she shuddered. Lining the walls, shackled just like her, were people. It was too dark to see any of their faces. She could see at least 20 people along her section of corridor, but she thought she could see others branching away. How many were down here anyway? She struggled with the cuffs, but they were too tight. Why hadn't she called Jack when she had the chance? She thought about what had happened, about how Rebecca had jumped on her as they entered the technology room, held her down, injected her... it was too late now. She had no way of reaching them; her headset was back at the school. She shifted uncomfortably and felt something dig into her chest. Looking down, she could see a slight lump under her shirt. _The sonic eyeliner._ She had stuffed it into her inside pocket before leaving the dorm that morning! But how to get it? Her hands were securely fastened on either side of her. Could she get it in her teeth? She bent her head down as far as she could and arched her chest. _Almost…_ but almost wasn't good enough. She took a deep breath and tried again, reaching down with her head as far as possible. Her neck burned with pain, but this time she felt the slim tube graze against her teeth. It took another 3 attempts, but eventually she had the eyeliner in her mouth. Her sense of elation vanished quickly, however, as she realised that she still couldn't reach it with her hands. She was going to have to use her mouth. Using her tongue, she twisted it round until she felt the bump that was the 'ON' button. Preying it had enough juice left; she aimed it at one of her cuffs and pressed. A dull green light illuminated the chamber and the cuff popped open. Gratefully, she took the eyeliner out of her mouth, and undid the cuffs securing her other wrist and her feet. Just as the final cuff unclasped, the light died.

"Fuck" she muttered, shaking it and pushing the button once more. Nothing happened. "I hope there are no doors I need to open." She said to herself, and turned to leave. And froze. There, suspended 3 feet away from where Rachel had been, was Rebecca. Closer inspection of some of the other people revealed several other classmates she recognised. All of whom did some form of tech. and all of whom had a puncture mark on the side of their throat. _What am I dealing with here??_ She wondered. As she moved further down the corridor, she realised that she recognised all these people. _Shit! _Her sudden realisation left her cold. _This isn't mind control we're dealing with here. This is body swapping! Cloning! _She set off again, and then another thought trickled into her brain. _She was down here. They had got her. And that meant… _"Oh god." She whispered, horror struck. "They've sent a duplicate of me back home. Back to Torchwood. They could learn everything about us!" she hurried her pace, making sure to keep quiet and keep to the shadows. No normal human could have done it so well, she thought, if it weren't for the Kalamarai training she would be screwed. She turned into yet another corridor, expecting to find more school-mates. Instead, she saw a door at the far end. She ran towards it, praying it would be unlocked and that, if it was, there would be nothing but freedom behind it. She grasped the handle and pushed experimentally. The door swung open easily, silently. Gratefully she slipped through it…

…and found herself in the stretch of woodland that separated the school from the main road, not far from the posted walk. Turning quickly back to the closing door, she saw that it was concealed within a large mossy boulder. _Clever_ she thought. But now what? Back to Toshiko's? No, she couldn't do that. If these … aliens or whatever was causing this had cloned her, they would have sent it back there. And there was still the chance that the team had realised what had happened and were playing along. It was slight, but it was there. The school then? She certainly couldn't stay out in the open like this. She set off at a hurried jog, keeping to the trees. She gasped as she nearly collided with a figure in front of her, and reared back, ready to fight. Then she realised the figure was Ianto.

"Oh my god" she said as she lowered her hands. "What the hell are you doing here? Did Jack send you?"

Ianto stared at her, polite, uncomprehending. She felt a chill of fear.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" he asked.

"It's me, it's Rachel." He stared at her blankly. She frowned. "Where do you work?" she asked him.

"In a tourist office, why?" the young Welshman's eyes darted to the side, clearly fearing he was talking to someone unstable.

_He doesn't know me_ she realised. _They got him, too._ How had they found out about the tourist office? Ok, so local people knew, or thought they knew, that that was where Ianto worked, but this school wasn't exactly local to the Hub. Did they have other people as well? How far did this spread? Suddenly, she was afraid. Should she run? Or would that make him suspicious? She was thinking about this, when she suddenly remembered the ease at which 'Rebecca' had accepted what she was told. Would the same work here?

"Alex? Alex, do you know who I am?" she said, softly.

Uncertainty flickered in the young man's eyes. "I'm sorry; you must have me mistaken with someone else. My name is Ianto. Excuse me." He started to turn, but was stopped by her arm.

"Ianto? No, Alex, darling, please!" she was crying now, but the tears were entirely real. How dare they take Ianto? She was one thing, but he was nothing to do with this. He was innocent.

"I don't know what you mean" but there was uncertainty in his voice now. "Why do you call me Alex?"

"Alex, Ianto is gone, he's dead. You're Alex, remember? I know you miss your twin, I know you do, but he's gone. Taking over his job can't have helped. I know. I should never have let you leave the house. Alex…"

"Rachel…?" it was working, it had to be working. "I…I remember. Ianto is gone. Yes." It had worked. They expected people to tell them the truth, and why not? You don't often lie to your friends and family about their identity.

"Come on, darling, let's get you home." As he turned and allowed her to push him softly in the direction of the road however, she hit him softly on the side of the head. Instantly, he crumpled. She knew he would be out for at least 8 hours now. She paused, uncertain. What should she do? Should she go back into the lair, try and find the real Ianto? Before this thought had even fully crossed her mind, however, she dismissed it. Even if she did find Ianto, what could she do? The eyeliner was out of power. Her only option was to get him to the school so she could get her headset and contact the team. Then she could go back to the Hub. Picking him up and slinging him over her shoulder, she headed for the school.

She silently made her way down the hallways; hoping no-one would open the cupboard she had stored 'Ianto' in. she was grateful it was the weekend, about 95 of the students and staff had gone home for a couple of days. She was surprised, therefore, to see a light on in one of the physics labs. Was there a teacher in there? If so, she could use their help, say that something of hers was in the staffroom and she needed their swipe-card to get in. then she could look around in there. She composed herself, and looked through the frosted glass of the door. There was definitely someone in there. A man, she thought. She pushed open the door.

"excuse me sir, I know lessons have stopped and I should have gone home, but I need…" she stopped. Her chest leapt uncomfortably and her whole body flashed hot and cold in shock. She swallowed.

The man looked up, and instantly the shock she felt inside was mirrored on his face. This was no ordinary physics teacher.

It was the Doctor.

**To Be Continued...**

**_Any comments/reviews greatly appreciated :)_**


	5. What Now?

"Rachel, honey, could you come here a moment?"

She looked up from where she was sitting. "Sure dad, just let me finish this answer, ok?" she turned back to the homework on the table.

"Ok, what is going on?" Jack demanded, turning angrily to Toshiko and Gwen.

"Steady on Jack!" Gwen snapped "I said she shouldn't even go in there alone! You insisted she would be ok!"

Jack stared at her. For one wild moment she thought he was going to slap her. But then he seemed to sag, as though in defeat.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I sent Ianto out to check the school, see if he could find anything that would tell us what they did to her."

"Maybe we could just try telling her about us?" suggested Gwen. "You know, about Torchwood and everything. Try and jog her memory?"

"It might work…" Jack looked thoughtful. "Tell you what, we'll wait and see what Ianto comes up with. If we don't hear good news from him soon, we'll try Gwen's idea, and tell her everything. Agreed?"

They both nodded.

* * *

She was running. Why was she running? All she knew was that she had to get away, she couldn't handle this. She thought she heard the Doctor call after her, but she didn't stop, couldn't stop, didn't even falter.

He was here. She should have been happy. Maybe the Rachel of 2 months ago would have been, would have welcomed him with open arms. But not now, not any more. She had moved on, or at least she thought she had, convinced herself that if he didn't want her, fine. But she had never really wanted to believe he didn't want her. Now she had no choice. The look of shock on his face when he saw her…that had hurt. Because it meant that he wasn't looking for her, had no idea she was even here…

Heart pounding, tears blinding her, she burst into the dormitory and grabbed her bag, fumbling to put on her earpiece. Her hands were shaking so she couldn't even turn it on. Maybe that was good, she probably shouldn't stay in the school longer than necessary. She should go now.

She peered round the door, checking the coast was clear. It was. She set off down the hallway, keeping to the walls and running between doors, in case she had to hide quickly. She didn't even want to think about what _…or who…_ she would want to hide from.

"Ok" she breathed as she reached the cupboard she had stowed 'Ianto' in. "Ok. Lets get you back to the Hub shall we?" After checking he was still unconscious (and alive), she swung him over her shoulder once more and darted into the cover of the trees. Her brain was on red alert, convinced she was going to run into someone. If she was caught now, there was no hope for either of them. She stopped beside a huge tree with overhanging braches. It provided pretty good cover from either side, the perfect spot for a rest. Concealing 'Ianto' in the braches, she reached up to turn on her headset. And felt a hand come down on her shoulder. Her heart leapt, and she grabbed the hand, swung around ready to fight. Somewhere in her head, that made her uncomfortable. What had she become that if something scared her, she reacted violently? Her hand lashed out, pausing millimetres from the windpipe of her attacker. Only it wasn't an attacker, it was the Doctor.

"Rachel…" he blinked at her, as though disbelieving what his eyes were seeing. "What…why…what are you doing here?"

"This is my life now" she said coldly. "I had to do something after you abandoned me."

"Oh. So you started school? That's … good."

"Don't patronize me doctor, I don't need it." The shock and sadness that had threatened to overwhelm her earlier were ebbing away, to be replaced by fury. "What the fuck are you doing here anyway? Bit _mundane_ for you I would have thought!"

The Doctor looked taken aback, unsure how to respond in the onslaught of her anger. "Umm, well, um, anyway… have you killed someone?!" he looked horrified.

She followed his gaze to the unconscious figure among the branches. "What I do is not…" she began, and then froze. Voices were approaching, one of whom she recognized. It was Rebecca.

"Shit!" she pushed the Doctor against the trunk of the tree, hidden from view, and clapped a hand over his mouth. She watched the young girl and her companion disappear into the main building, then relaxed and let go of the Doctor.

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" he asked indignantly.

"Not really." She replied, coolly. She reached up to her ear and activated the earpiece. "Do not react."

* * *

"_Do not react._" Gwen nearly leapt about a foot in the air when the voice came out of no-where. Rachel? She looked around for the girl, but she was nowhere to be seen. What? She was about to call Jack when the voice spoke again.

"_Can anyone hear me? If anyone can don't react. Just – I dunno – cough twice if you can hear me, ok?_"

Casually leaning her against her hand, Gwen pushed the button on the earpiece and coughed twice.

* * *

"Gwen! Oh, thank God." Rachel had honestly never been so pleased to hear her. She had been afraid none of the team would be wearing their earpieces. "Listen, the person you have at Toshiko's is NOT ME, ok? We were wrong, it's not about mind control, its body snatching or cloning or body swapping or, oh, _something_! Anyway, that isn't me! Cough twice if you understand." After a few seconds, she heard the Welshwoman cough twice. "Did you tell her about us, about what we're doing? Cough once for yes, twice for no." two more coughs. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok, make sure you tell her nothing, ok? I don't know how these things communicate and it would not be good if they found out about us." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Doctor frown slightly at the use of the word 'us'. "Get rid of the fake me - don't kill her though, I think we're sort of linked and I'd rather not test the theory – anyway, get rid of her somehow. They're really gullible, yeah, so think up any excuse. As many of you as possible meet me in the Hub once your done. Oh, and I'll have … prisoners. Listen, there's something I really need to say to Jack…"

* * *

But Gwen had stopped listening. She suddenly realised what the young woman had said, about not telling 'Rachel' about Torchwood. And Jack had just gone into her room to do just that… "It'll have to wait" she said softly and took out the earpiece, hurrying into 'Rachel's' room.

* * *

"Gwen? Gwen, are you still there, I have to tell Jack something important…Gwen?...DAMN!" she kicked the tree in frustration.

"What's going on Rachel?" the Doctor asked carefully, possibly afraid he may get the same treatment as the tree if he annoyed her. "Who is 'us'? I thought you said…"

"Fine!" she snapped, interrupting him. "Fine. You know that new life I told you about? School, friends, a job?" he nodded. "Well, that was a lie. I'm with Torchwood. I'm guessing that you're here for the same reason I am, because…" _because you're clearly not looking for me. _She let the sentence trail off.

The Doctor looked at her, appalled. "Torchwood? Why?"

"Because you abandoned me! You left me, I could have been dead! How long has it been, Doctor, since you last saw me? Did you even care?!" to her great embarrassment she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. She blinked them back, hoping he hadn't noticed. The Doctor swallowed nervously.

"Did you even look for me?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head, slowly. "I wanted to. But when the Queen wouldn't tell me where you were…I mean, let's face it. The Universe is a pretty big place. I couldn't look for you forever. I'm sorry." He hung his head sadly "as for how long it's been…about 8 months I reckon."

8 months. He hadn't seen her for 8 months. He had never even tried to find her… ok, so she had never thought they were soul mates or anything. She had always felt like she lived in someone's shadow, Rose's probably, but she had at least thought they were friends… she hated that he could still hurt her.

* * *

"Rachel, do you remember why you were at that school?" Jack looked intently at the young girl opposite him. "Do you know what you were asked to do?"

She gave him a puzzled look. "Umm…sure. I'm there to learn stuff, to get a good education. So I can get into Uni. Err…dad, are you ok?"

"No, Rachel. Think. You were there because…" he broke off when Gwen came suddenly striding into the room.

"James, can I borrow you for a moment?" she asked. Jack got up and went over to her, turning his back on the young girl still gazing at him quizzically. Gwen wrapped her arms around his neck, caressing his back and kissed his cheek, all the while looking side-long at 'Rachel'. As she had predicted, the girl angrily averted her gaze at this show of affection.

"Gwen" Jack whispered in her ear, "not that I'm complaining but…what exactly are you doing?"

"That's not Rachel" he glanced at her, surprised. Quickly, she whispered everything that Rachel had told her. He looked alarmed.

"We are so stupid." He muttered. "How often have I dealt with things looking like what they're not? And I was just going to blurt everything out!" he turned back to the-thing-that-wasn't-Rachel. "Sorry, honey, this is going to have to wait. Gwen just reminded me of someplace we need to be…"

* * *

The Doctor frowned suddenly. He had been replaying Rachel's side of the conversation he had just heard. "Hold on," he looked down at 'Ianto'. "What did you mean, prisoner'S', plural? You only have one body here…"

She smiled at him, in a way that made him suddenly very uncomfortable. "Sorry Doctor," she stepped towards him and he instinctively took a step back, "but I can't let you see how to get into the Hub. I'll just knock you out until we're there. I'm good at it, i promise; look at this guy," she pointed to the figure on the floor, "out cold, and not a mark on him. Look, I'm not going to kill you or anything, ok?"

"And you can do it without hurting me?" he sounded incredulous.

"Oh yeah." She stepped forward and hit him in the side of the head with all the force she could muster. He dropped instantly. "Doesn't mean I'm going to, though"

She looked around and, seeing no one about, picked up both men and set off towards the Hub. _If the police see me_ she mused _this is going to be bloody hard to explain…_


	6. Rescue

Rachel let out a small sigh of relief as she entered the cool darkness of the tourist office that made up the 'front' of the Torchwood Hub. She'd made it. It seemed almost laughable that she had managed to carry two unconscious bodies across one of the busiest places in Cardiff without being stopped. Probably, she reflected, because of the Doctor's TARDIS key she had found in his pocket. She had remembered him saying something about wearing it in 'The Year That Never Was'. She wasn't entirely sure what (or when) that was and, judging from the look on the Doctor's face when he said it, wasn't sure she wanted to. But, he had said it 'shielded' him, kinda like the TARDIS, so she had slipped it round her neck and placed it under her shirt, where she had always kept her own key.

Reaching down behind Ianto's desk, she pushed the button that triggered the door release mechanism, and entered the Hub. God it felt good to be back. Placing the fake Ianto on the floor, she picked up the unconscious body of the Doctor (who, she noticed with a mixture of guilt and satisfaction, was developing a nasty bruise over his left temple) and carried him down to the cells. She placed him carefully on the floor and withdrew, locking the cell door behind her. She watched him sleep for a few minutes, and then headed back up the stairs to bring down 'Ianto'. She was just picking him up when four people burst into the Hub.

* * *

They all froze when they saw her. Jack slowly withdrew his weapon and pointed it at her. The others followed suite. Confusion filled the young woman's face. Then she glanced down at the unconscious figure in her arms, and realised what they must be thinking. Her eyes widened slightly.

"Oh, God, Jack this isn't what it looks like. This isn't Ianto." She swallowed. "They got him." She looked across at Gwen, whose eyes flickered closed briefly.

Jack stared at the unconscious figure, and something in his eyes seemed to…break. "What? When did this happen?"

"That's what you wanted to tell him, isn't it?" Gwen breathed. Rachel nodded.

"That, and…" but Jack cut across her.

"Is he…is the real Ianto…I mean…" he looked at Rachel, almost pleadingly.

"He's alive, yes. They need to keep they're victims alive in order to maintain the copy. I can't think of any other reason not to just kill them." she stopped, realising how harsh and uncaring that sounded.

"You escaped…" Jack said slowly. Rachel agreed that she had. _Where was he going with this?_ "So…do you know where he is?"

"Yes…but Jack, there's something else…" he waved her silent.

"Gwen, Toshiko, you need to get Ianto back. Rachel, show them the place. Owen, you and me will…"

"NO, Jack!"

He turned to stare at Rachel, nonplussed.

"What do you mean, 'no'? We can't leave him…"

"That's not what I meant. I meant they don't come. I go alone."

"No. No way. That is so not an option here. Last time you went in alone you got captured and cloned. No, I don't want you in there. You show them where to go and then come back here. That is an order!"

"JACK, LISTEN TO ME!" everyone seemed surprised by her sudden outburst. She had always been so quiet, so contained. "Jack, going into that place would be suicide for them. I only got out last time because I'm Kalamarai."

"Gwen and Toshiko are good at what they do, they…"

"That isn't important!! Look, I'm sure they are good. By Earth standards they're possibly even great. But don't you get this? _That will not be enough_. These are not human creatures, and they are way, way advanced. I am probably the only one that can go in there and get Ianto out safely. So yes, Jack, I go in alone" she had an unfamiliar glint in her eye, and Jack realised for the first time how she could be a good warrior, why she had been chosen by the Kalamarai. He studied her silently for a few moments.

"Ok, Gwen and Tosh stay here with Owen," she nodded and turned around to leave. "But I'm coming with you." She whirled around and opened her mouth to protest, but Jack got in there first, "and before you say a word, I can't die, so its not suicide for me, is it? You need backup Rachel. You might be good, better than us even. But you're not bloody superwoman. So stop trying to be."

She looked and him, and then shrugged. "Fine, you can come" he raised an eyebrow.

"Are you ordering me, Rach?" she flushed slightly.

"Sorry. I mean fine Captain Harkness, Sir. You are right, you should back me up." The words were spoilt slightly by the deep note of sarcasm in her voice, but Jack let that one slide. Getting to Ianto before anything happened to him, that was what was important now.

* * *

She easily located the rock which housed the chamber below. Looking at it, she could hardly believe it was anything but a rock. This belief was shattered instantly however when Jack held a small device to its surface and, after a few seconds, the entire half of the rock face swung forwards like a door.

"Cosy" murmured Jack as he took in the slightly damp walls and the dim lighting. "Kinda reminds me of a place I lived in back in the 18-" he broke off. They had just turned a corner and could see corridor upon corridor, stretching out for what seemed like miles, all of them with people strapped firmly to the wall. Jack cursed. "How many people are down here? How far does this go?"

"I have no idea. Could be hundreds. But right now, we just need to find one."

"Easier said then done" Jack laughed shakily. "You think they have some sort of filing system?"

Rachel realised with a sigh that he was right. In this lighting, and with this many people, finding Ianto was going to be like trying to find a smartly dressed needle in a dark, gloomy haystack.

"Look around. See if you can see a sign or symbols, or something. Anything that might indicate they don't just store them randomly."

And so they looked, walking up and down corridors staring at the people, the walls. Rachel could feel a slight itch in her brain, a feeling that she was missing something, something obvious. She looked back at the people she had just passed. What was it…? And then she realised.

* * *

"Age?" Jack stared at her "you're kidding, right? Advanced alien race and they're sorting captives by _age_?"

"It's cleverer than you might think. And it's not just age, its age and when they were caught. Sort of like how you would store…"

"Meat. Food." Jack finished the sentence for her, looking faintly disgusted. "So Ianto would be…where, exactly?"

"Judging by the people along here, I'm guessing that rock is the back door." She sighed. "Which would mean that Ianto will be up near the front door, as he must have been caught today. They must have caught him looking around after you told him to…" she shut up. She could tell by the look on Jack's face that he blamed himself for it.

"Look, its not you're fault" she said "they could have caught anyone, at any time"

"But they didn't did they? They caught Ianto, after I told him to snoop around. If I hadn't told him to come here…"

"…then we would still be thinking it was mind control, you would possibly have revealed a lot of Torchwood secrets to an alien, and I would never have known about…" she faltered "…them being gullible." She finished, lamely. Jack had a strong suspicion that that wasn't what she was about to say, but he didn't push the matter further. He could interrogate her once Ianto was safe.

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?" Gwen looked at Owen, uncertain.

"Look, I am good with DNA, ok? I have a sample of Ianto's in the fridge downstairs. If I take a sample of old Anonymous' over there, I can compare them."

"Which would show…?"

"which would show, whether this is cloning, in which case the DNA will match, or just copying, in which case the DNA would be that of whatever this thing is, and not a bit Ianto-ish."

"Oh. Should we take him down to the cells once you're done?" Gwen watched as Owen filled a syringe with blood from the impostor's arm.

"You volunteering to carry him?" Owen grinned up at her.

"Oh, is that the time? Guess we'll have to wait for Jack to take him down…" smiling, Gwen walked over to Toshiko's desk to see what she was doing, leaving Owen to do his thing.

* * *

"There!" Rachel squinted down the corridor to where Jack was pointing. Sure enough, there hung the young Welshman, shackled to the wall like all the others.

"Ok, I'll go down and get him – no, don't interrupt! - I'll go get him, and bring him back up here. I can move around without being seen, you can't"

"And how exactly are you planning to release him? I've been looking at these manacles, and you are not getting into those without a key. I tried the unlocking device on a couple of them back there and nothing." He paused, turned to frown at her. "How did you get out of yours, anyway? I assume you were down here?" he couldn't tell due to the dim light, but he thought he saw her flush, and a secretive look appeared on her face.

"That doesn't matter. Just trust me when I say I can get him out. Stay here."

She set off down the corridor and, sure enough, even Jack found it hard to keep track of where she was. He only really spotted her again when she was standing next to Ianto.

"Damn, that girl is good!" he said to himself. He stared around nervously, in case something should sneak up on him. A familiar blue light and a slight buzzing briefly illuminated the chamber and he whirled back to face Rachel and Ianto, sure that was where it was coming from. But before he could pinpoint a location, Rachel was in front of him supporting an unconscious Ianto, and tucking something suspiciously back into her pocket.

"What…" he got no further. A loud claxon went off somewhere nearby.

"Shit! They must know we're here!" Rachel looked panicked.

"RUN!"

They ran. They were being pursued by shadows.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**Not sure when i'll be able to put the next chapter up, probably not for a few days. Until then any reviews/comments would be appreciated! i want to know whether people like where i'm going with this... :)**


	7. The Unexpected Guest

Jack could see Rachel running a few metres ahead of him, Ianto slung over her shoulder. _I really need to exercise more_ Jack thought ruefully. _Even with Ianto on her back she can run faster than me._ He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his system, the instinctive need to fight or run away. What were they running from? Jack was so far to see anyone awake, alien or otherwise. But every so often he would see small movements out of the corner of his eye, which melted away as he tried to focus on them. It was as though the shadows themselves were chasing, he thought uneasily, trying to stop them from leaving. That was one of the last things he thought, before a tremendous pain exploded behind his eyes.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel saw Jack fall, saw the blood and matter spurt out of his head. Had he been shot? That wasn't important, she knew he was dead. But she and Ianto weren't, not yet anyway, and so she knew she had to keep running.

By some miracle, she managed to get to the door that was the rock, and pushed it open, gasping as the cool night air rushed into her throat. She hadn't realised how long they had been down there. Heart racing, she ran to a clump of bushes that blocked them from sight of the rock. If anyone was behind them of course they had no cover, but she couldn't remember where that convenient tree had been, and besides she had to wait for Jack.

The minutes ticked by, and Rachel began to feel uneasy. Why hadn't he come out yet, surely he would have resurrected by now? A horrible thought occurred to her. She had assumed that once he was dead they would leave him, chase after her and Ianto so that when he woke up, he would be able to leave without much difficulty. But what if she was wrong? With an unpleasant crawling sensation in her stomach, she remembered Jack's comment about food storage earlier. What if they did eat people? Jack may not be able to die, but what if he got eaten? Could he…? She shuddered, the thought too disgusting to even contemplate. So what now? "Come on Jack" she whispered into the darkness. "Come on, we need you out here." But nothing happened. Rachel tried to activate her earpiece, to tell the others what had happened, but it wasn't there. She must have lost it whilst she was running. She swallowed nervously. She was going to have to go back in and get him, wasn't she? But how could she leave Ianto? Rachel gazed at the young man in front of her for a few seconds, and then had an idea. Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew the Doctors TARDIS key, which she had removed from her neck and put there once she was safely in the Hub. She slid it round the young man's neck. Nothing seemed different, she could still see him, still knew he was there… but it was the only plan she had, and it HAD seemed to work earlier when she wore it… with a sigh, she covered Ianto with leaves, obscuring him as best she could, and hoped that the key would keep him hidden. She stood up quickly, and darted back to the rock face. Despite the terror she felt, the child-like urge to run and hide, she felt – strangely alive. As though she was doing something she loved. Shaking her head, she opened the rock and stepped inside.

* * *

"Owen! Have you got anything yet?" Toshiko was getting worried. They hadn't heard from Jack or Rachel in nearly 5 hours, and she still hadn't found anything out of the ordinary within the school building plans.

Owen emerged from the autopsy room, looking puzzled. "Well, I've compared the DNA, but…" he frowned.

"But what Owen? For God's sake, spit it out!" Toshiko snapped. She sighed. "Sorry. It's just, I'm worried about the others, you know?"

"It's alright, really" Owen told her, surprised and a little embarrassed by just how much Toshiko's anger had stung… "But, um…this DNA. It's not like I was expecting." He paused, unsure how to go on. "It's not the same as Ianto's…"

"So? Doesn't that support your 'copying' theory?"

"No, because that theory would mean that the DNA was that of something different, the external appearance just being, like, a costume so to speak. This is different. It's about 98 percent the same, like someone's copied just enough material to create Ianto, but without just making a carbon copy. This is advanced Tosh. Really advanced. Enough DNA has been replicated to fool most, if not all, Earth machines. That guy down there could probably even pass a DNA test to say he's the real Ianto."

"Fuck me" they turned and looked at Gwen, who had just appeared from the kitchen. "Doesn't that mean there could be any number of them out there? Going around they're daily lives, visiting hospital even, giving blood. With no one knowing they're anything but who they claim to be?"

All three of them considered this. How many people had they seen, interacted with even, who were secretly not really them at all?

"You know," Owen said, thoughtfully. "A lot of the DNA was replicated. It's possible that these things don't even know they _aren't_ the people they claim to be. Think about it" he said, warming to his topic. "You want to plan an invasion, right? So what do you do – you stick in as many of your own people in as possible without anyone knowing! They live out their daily lives, arousing no suspicion then when the time comes, POW! You take control of them all and round up the ones that are left."

"That doesn't sound very pleasant…" began Toshiko,

"…which probably means that is exactly what is going on." Gwen finished, gloomily.

* * *

She found Jack lying where he had fallen, still bleeding profusely. She checked his pulse, her own increasing slightly. What if he had actually…? She breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alive, so just unconscious then. Somehow, she managed to carry him out and back to where she'd left Ianto with no more disturbances. This worried her. Where had they gone? They had seen both of them, surely, so even if they thought Jack was dead…she glanced sharply at the unconscious American. She supposed it _was_ Jack, wasn't it? Could they have replicated him, left the clone there for her to find, for her to take back to the Hub? Had there been time? _Yes_, she realised. _I have no idea how long it takes to copy a person, they could have made countless Jacks for all I know_. She was just going to have to wait for him to…at this moment she heard a gasp of breath and Jack Harkness sat up, gazing about him wildly. His eyes focused on her and he grinned. "We got out ok, then?" he looked around. "Where's Ianto?" Rachel didn't answer. How could she know if this was really Jack? "Rachel?" he looked at her. "Where is he?"

"Umm…" she suddenly had a thought. Owen had told her (well, told Ianto really, but she had been in the room) that he had been testing Jack's DNA, trying to find out why he didn't die. If they could replicate it, he said, it could cure the whole world… Rachel had smiled sadly, knowing that what Owen was really hoping was that if it could resurrect the dead, if it could bring him back to life, back from the living death he had to live through every day… but anyway, the point was that he hadn't found anything. Nothing that instantly screamed "look at me, I'm not in other DNA strands, I'm different!" so did that mean it wasn't in his DNA? In which case… before Jack had a chance to react, Rachel had pulled his gun from inside his holster and fired into his face. He dropped instantly, blood spattering the ground behind him. She waited anxiously, not sure whether it would be better if he woke up (in which case it really was Jack, but then he would be pissed at her) or not (in which case she would have to go back in there…).

The corpse sat up suddenly and turned its head to face her, new flesh and muscle forming over the shattered bone. She watched in disgusted fascination. In less than 30 seconds Jack sat before her frowning, his face the same as it had always been.

"What the hell did you shoot me for?!" he demanded.

"I had to know if it was really you."

"And you couldn't have just asked? Asked something they wouldn't know about?!"

"This way was quicker" before he could say anything else, she picked up Ianto. Jack blinked suddenly, as though he had only just realised the younger man was there. "Come on. Let's get back to the Hub" she called over her shoulder, darting quickly amongst the trees like a soldier in enemy territory, expecting attack.

* * *

"They're back" announced Gwen suddenly, gazing at the CCTV screen." And they've got Ianto with them" she grinned in happy relief.

"Ok, people..." Jack began as he entered the Hub. Owen interrupted him.

"Roll up your sleeves, both of you. And Ianto's"

"What? Why?"

"You've just been in the enemy's lair! I need to check you're really, y'know, you. And for that, I'm going to need blood samples."

Rachel grimaced. She really hated needles. Jack didn't look to happy about it either, but they both complied, and Owen pulled out 3 needles.

He took the three samples back down to the little autopsy room to check them against the other samples. There was an awkward silence; neither Gwen nor Toshiko wanting to say anything in case it turned out these weren't their friends. Owen returned 20 minutes later, and grinned apologetically at them.

"All normal, 100 percent you. Sorry, we just had to check."

"Have you checked on our friend in the cells? Is he awake?" Jack asked.

"Nope, both of them are still under."

"Right, good." Jack turned towards his office, then froze and turned back to face them, a puzzled frown on his face. "Wait, what? Both of whom?"

"The two prisoners Rachel brought here…"

Rachel closed her eyes as she remembered she hadn't told him, hadn't explained... "Jack, I…"

"Who is it?"

"One of the physics teachers." Her fists clenched and her voice shook slightly with suppressed emotion. "He wasn't who he was supposed to be either…" something in her tone made the others stare at her.

"Who is he? Can you give us a name?"

"He was my friend…" she seemed unable to go on. Owen glanced at her.

"When you say friend…just exactly how close were you to this guy?"

But Gwen seemed to have realised something. "You mean he was your _Friend_ friend, the one who left you here, don't you?" Rachel nodded.

Jack felt something stir at the back of his mind. A memory? But he couldn't focus on it. "Bring up the CCTV of the cells." He said. "I want to see this guy…"

"No! Jack wait, I need to explain…" but she was too late. Toshiko had quickly brought up the CCTV picture of the cells. And of the man in the pinstripe suit lying on the floor.

"Sorry Jack." Rachel mumbled quietly. "I meant to tell you, but…"

Jack wasn't listening. He stepped forward and touched the image on the screen, staring at it as though he didn't think it could be real.

"But how…" comprehension dawned and he spun around to fix Rachel with a steely glare. "Him? He was the 'friend' you were so desperate to get back to? Why didn't you say?"

"Well, I knew you couldn't help me contact him, so I didn't think you needed to know"

"How did you know that?" Jack asked, feeling as though there were something he should know, should remember, just sitting on the edge of his consciousness, just out of reach. Rachel flushed uncomfortably.

"I, um, asked you. And then…umm…retconned you"

Jack remembered his confusion of a few weeks beforehand when he had been unable to find one of the pills. "When?"

"That day I spoke to you in your office, after I busted out of the cell…" as she spoke, Jack felt a burst of realisation, and the memory that had been hidden came flooding back to him.

"And it's really him? They didn't – they didn't copy him?"

"Yeah, it's him"

Jack frowned back at the screen. "So why is he in the cells? And why is he knocked out?"

"I said I didn't want him knowing how to get into the Hub."

"But he already knows where it is, from when I…" he broke off, looking guiltily at the others.

"Sorry to interrupt this little argument" Owen put in, "but for those of us who have no idea who you're talking about, just exactly who is this guy? Is he a teacher or not?"

"It's the Doctor" Jack said softly, his fingers touching the grainy image of the man's face on the TV screen. "My Doctor."

"Your Doctor? As in – the guy you left with??" Gwen looked at the screen. "This is who you've always been so secretive about?" she looked at Rachel. "So, if you know him, and he knows where the Hub is already, why did you punch him out? He's got a pretty nasty bruise."

Rachel smiled a little, looking more than a little embarrassed. "Well, if I'm honest…" She looked at the screen. "I just really wanted to punch his lights out."

Owen couldn't stop himself from smirking a little at the expression on her face. _Hell hath no fury, and all that…_

**As always, any comments/reviews are very welcome :)**


	8. A Plan

The Doctor woke with a groan, and raised his hand to the side of his throbbing head. He winced as his hand touched the bruise on his temple. _So much for not hurting me _he thought sourly. He knew she had done it on purpose, which saddened him slightly. What had happened to that shy, happy girl he had met? The one who didn't like going off on her own, who needed him? How had she changed so much? _She thought you left her_. Said a voice in his mind. _You broke her heart…_

He became aware that someone was watching him from over by the door and sat up groggily. It was Rachel.

"Sorry" she muttered, opening the cell door. "Look, Jack wants to see you, ok?"

"Jack?" the doctor still looked confused. Rachel felt suddenly guilty. Had she hit him harder than she thought? But the next second his trademark demented grin was back on his face "Jack! Brilliant!"

* * *

Ianto sat up suddenly, heart pounding, looking around him wildly. Where was he? Where were **they**?

"Hey, hey, it's ok."

He flinched as someone touched his shoulder, then looked up and realised it was Jack. He looked around him properly and realised to his relief that he was in Jack's office, back in the Hub.

"What happened?" asked Jack softly, sitting down next to Ianto and putting his arms around him.

"I – I was looking round the school like you said." The young man was clearly still terrified, still in shock. Jack hugged him tighter. It killed him to see Ianto like this.

"Anyway, I was in one of the classrooms when the head came in, wanted to know what I was doing in the school. I had to make up some cover story, b-but I wasn't sure he bought it. I turned around to leave and then something hit me in the back of the head." He drew a deep, shuddering breath. "When I woke up, I was – they – they…" he seemed unable to continue.

"Shh, its ok, you're safe now. I've got you" Jack lifted the younger man's head, gazed into his clear blue eyes.

"I thought I was going to die, Jack."

"I wouldn't let that happen." He bent his head and kissed Ianto, who responded at once, his hands gripping Jack's back, their tongues entwining. It was a kiss filled with relief and passion, and a joy at just being alive…

"Ahem. Err…nice to see you, Jack" the men broke quickly apart and stared at the newcomer.

"Doctor!" Jack stood up at once and went to greet his old friend. It felt like a lifetime since he had seen him last. In fact, it felt like several.

"Jack, who is this?" Ianto frowned slightly as he looked at the tall, skinny man shaking Jack's hand. He felt sure he had seen him before…

"Ianto, this is the Doctor. Doctor, Ianto Jones."

The Doctor grinned at him, and held out his hand. "Doctor…" Ianto's eyes widened and he turned to look at Jack. "The one you disappeared off with for 2 months?" Jack nodded. Ianto stared pointedly at the Doctor's proffered hand. He wasn't too sure he was happy with Jack being off with this man. He was kind of cute if you liked that sort of thing…

The Doctor's grin faded slightly, and he withdrew his hand. "So…" he looked around "this is the new and improved Torchwood, is it? Must say it's much nicer than the one in London. Mind you, when I saw that it was full of Daleks and Cybermen, which can't have helped the decor…"

"Excuse me" Ianto said, hurrying from the room. Rachel threw the Doctor a filthy look before running after him.

"What? What did I say? I… oh." He looked at Jack. "He was the one you told me about, isn't he? He was at Torchwood One."

"The one who's girlfriend became a homicidal cyberwoman, yeah."

The Doctor groaned. "I'm not very popular round here, am I?" he peered through the glass wall. "Why do they all keep looking at me by the way?"

"They're curious. I never actually told them where I was that time I was with you, just that I had found my Doctor." He looked out at the people below. "I mean, what else could I tell them?"

"Not exactly a year you want to re-live."

"Exactly." The two men stood in silence for a few minutes.

"So" the Doctor turned to grin at Jack. "You obviously have a nice, healthy working relationship with Ianto over there, what about the rest of them? Can I meet the team?"

* * *

"So, you're the one who stole our captain?" Gwen smiled at the man in front of her. He had a certein, disarming quality about him, making it almost impossible for her to display any of the anger she had felt at Jack's disappearance. He was cute, in a skinny kind of way. "Hope he wasn't too much trouble."

"Oh, you know. Not as bad as he used to be for sure" the Doctor winked at Jack, who flushed (much to Ianto's annoyance).

"So, tell me about this alien threat" the Doctor said. "Jack said something about cloning or shape shifting? Zygons?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, they're big, horrible…weird taste in food. Notice any armored cyborgs around? Maybe some bottles of lactic fluid next to the captives? No? Oh well." He sighed. "What else can you tell me?"

Owen explained what they had already found out, about the large amounts of DNA replicated. Jack then told him about what he had seen down in the hideout, and about how when the claxon had sounded, it was like they were being chased by something…invisible. and that he had felt something smash through his skull when he died, but not like a bullet… he looked around for Rachel so she could back up his story, but she wasn't anywhere near them. She and Ianto were huddled to the side, talking about something in urgent whispers. She glanced over at the group and saw Jack looking at them. She instantly flushed red and put a hand on Ianto's arm to silence him. Jack felt his eyes narrow slightly.

The Doctor was thinking hard. "I know this; I know this... anything unusual in the building plans?"

"Not that I could find" said Toshiko, emerging from the board room and speaking for the first time. "There's an old World War II bunker underneath the school, I suppose it could branch off from that…"

"Dr Sato!" the Doctor looked thrilled. "Always so helpful! Didn't know you were here!" Toshiko blinked at him.

"Have we met?" she asked, frowning, trying to place him.

"London! Musta have been, ooh, 2, 3 years ago now! Alien space ship crash landed in the Thames! Of course, I looked a bit different back then. Bigger ears…" he stopped and tried to re-gather his train of thought, oblivious to the look of complete bemusement on Toshiko's face, and the slight smirk on Jack's. "So where was I? Aliens, aliens…" he snapped his fingers suddenly. "Shadows! That's it!" he hurried over to the computer terminal and reach into his pocket. "Ah. Has anyone seen my…thank you!" Rachel had taken a slim silver tube out of her pocket and handed it to the Doctor. Jack knew he had recognised the blue buzzing light earlier. "Where's yours?" the Doctor turned to Rachel as he sonic-screwdrivered the computer.

"Died, didn't it? I have no way of charging it."

"Oh." He turned back to the computer. "Oh no." his face fell.

"Problem?" asked Toshiko, hurrying over to take a look.

"You could say that." He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "It's Neorrets"

"And those would be…?" Rachel asked him.

"They're old, almost as old as the universe. It's said that they come from the Dark Place, just beyond the furthest star. Neorrets are spirit creatures, so they need to steal physical forms from other species, like a parasite. They turn their offspring into the person they steal then, when the time is right to seize control of a civilisation, they 'wake them up'. I thought they were all gone, but…" He spun the computer screen round so they could see what he'd been looking at. He had somehow managed to alter the schematic of the school, which now showed a large underground warren of tunnels, leading to a huge open space about 50 metres down.

"I don't get it. How can you tell from looking at that that it's these – Neo rat things?"

"They have a very distinctive burrow pattern." Said the Doctor, vaguely.

"Really!?"

"Nah" the Doctor grinned at Owen, but he looked worried. "Well, sort of. That and what Jack said about when they killed him. Neorrets can – solidify, for want of a better word, if they need to protect their offspring. They die once they've done it of course, sort of like bees." He looked at Jack. "You must have caused quite a stir in the hive if they felt the need to resort to that." Jack shrugged. The Doctor turned back to the computer screen frowning. "From the looks of this, I'd say your lot had been here for quite a while. But why start this now? What disturbed them?"

"That's not really important. What is important is how do we stop them?"

"Well, killing the original 'body' works…but that isn't exactly the most practical thing." He thought hard. "If I remember correctly, they rely on the DNA stealing device to maintain their stolen bodies. If you could corrupt it somehow…"

"How do we get to it though? We can't just wander in."

"Yes, we can." Jack turned to stare at Rachel. "Think about it Jack. As far as they're concerned Ianto and I are one of them. That's probably why they gave up chasing me earlier after they'd killed you. We have a way in."

"You two are not going in there alone. No way."

"We have to, Jack."

The captain turned to stare at his young lover. "You can't. It's too dangerous."

"And how else are we going to stop this? We don't have any choice!"

Jack blinked. When had Ianto become so forceful, so brave? It was a good look on him, Jack decided. But at the same time, it confused and slightly saddened him that his young lover could change so much without him noticing. Rachel's influence? "Ok." Jack looked at the Welshman. "Ok. But make sure you have weapons, headsets. I – I don't want to lose you." His gaze flickered over to Rachel. "Either of you."

He turned back to the Doctor. "Do you have anything that can help them? Anything we don't?"

"Well – I can check the TARDIS stores if you want" he looked doubtful. "I don't want anything broken though, ok?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine" Jack looked for Ianto again, hoping to have another 'word' with him before he left, and saw him over in the corner with Rachel again, seemingly having a whispered argument about something.

"Ianto!" the young man turned at the sound of his name and, throwing an apologetic look at Rachel, walked over to Jack.

This mission was going to be dangerous, he reflected. He couldn't afford to leave any lose edges lying around. Not at this stage. Not when the stakes were this big…

* * *

Rachel watched the two men disappear into Jack's office, unaware of the Doctor's eyes upon her. She jumped suddenly, as though startled, and pulled her vibrating phone out of her pocket. Her eyes widened as she looked at the caller ID then, almost involuntarily, she looked up at Jack's office. The Doctor frowned slightly as she answered the phone, turning her back on the rest of the Hub and whispering into it, clearly desperate not to be overheard. Who was she talking to? But the next second, Toshiko distracted him, asking questions about his sonic screwdriver and how it had altered the system. By the time the Doctor had finished explaining, Rachel's phone was safely back in her pocket and she was examining hardware, ready for what lay ahead.

* * *

**Reviews/comments very welcome, as always :p**


	9. Unwanted Truths

"So, when do we leave?" Rachel had spent the last 2 hours trying to find the best weapons for her and Ianto to sneak into the underground chambers, and she was fed up. Why was it that she always had to do this stuff herself?

"I don't want you going until tomorrow" Jack replied, vaguely, his attention more focused on the man sitting next to him than on Rachel. "I want daylight. If the rest of us are going to be waiting outside; we need a clear view of what's around us."

"Tomorrow! They could have completed whatever it is they're doing by then!"

"In which case we will come up with a new plan! Forget it, Rach. You are not going in for at least another 10 hours." Jack sighed and turned his attention away from Ianto, to the girl standing opposite him. She was good, he reflected, but not perfect. She really didn't have the discipline to be a great soldier. She needed to be kept in line.

Toshiko was busy examining the equipment Rachel had rejected. Most of it had come from within the depths of the TARDIS, so she hadn't seen anything like most of it before. "What's this?" she asked, picking up what appeared to be a silver ball, with no obvious markings or switches.

"Be careful with that!" cried the Doctor, rushing forwards and taking it gently out of her hands. "It's called a TruthSeyer. It's sort of like an interrogation device. Trust me; you do not want this going off."

"A TruthSeyer?" Rachel looked interested. "I always wanted to see one of those."

"Yes, well, now you have." The Doctor didn't look at her. She grimaced over at Ianto, who smiled.

"Jack? I got those reports you wanted." Gwen came hurrying over to them and dropped a pile of folders on the desk, accidentally knocking some of the weapons onto the floor. "Oops! Sorry!" she cried, bending down and picking up the stuff. "Hope none of it broke!"

The Doctor went over to the desk and began examining the equipment. "It's ok, it all looks..." he began, and then stopped. The silver ball – the TruthSeyer – had begun to hum.

"What does that mean?" asked Rachel, going over for a closer look. As she approached the ball, it began to pulse with an odd, silvery light.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" yelled the Doctor suddenly, throwing himself over Toshiko and pushing her onto the floor. Jack followed suite, throwing himself on top of Ianto. Rachel drooped instantly and squeezed her eyes shut. Through her closed lids, she saw a flash of silver light, which must have illuminated the room. Once it had cleared, she opened her eyes and looked around. Nothing appeared damaged.

"What the hell happened?" Owen hurried out of the autopsy bay and helped Gwen to her feet. "What was with that light?"

"I don't know" Toshiko answered shakily, extracting herself from underneath the Doctor. "Some sort of alien device went off. We're all fine though."

"Don't be so sure." Rachel said softly, pointing. "Look at Jack and the Doctor."

Both men were lying still, breathing heavily, seemingly unaware of the voices around them.

"Jack?" Ianto pushed the older man off him and looked into his face, concerned. He turned to look at Rachel. "What happened? What does that TruthSeyer thing do?"

"I'm not an expert." Rachel pointed out "But I think it works on beams of some kind. Sort of like a truth serum, only you don't have to inject it or drink it."

"Exactly. More or less, anyway." The Doctor sat up, gazing round at them all. "Was anyone else hit?"

"Were you hit?"

"Yes. The rest of you are ok though, yeah?"

"I think Jack got hit…" at that moment Jack sat up, blinking, seemingly unharmed.

"Damn, that stung." He complained, "Doctor, what the hell does that thing do?"

"Exactly what the name suggests. Makes you tell the truth."

Rachel looked at him, uncertainly. "Umm…that doesn't sound so bad, why did you freak out when Tosh picked it up earlier?"

"It forces you to answer any and all questions put to you." The Doctor replied instantly. "You think that's not bad? Imagine if someone asked you you're deepest secret? Or the combination to a nuclear launch, or something? This thing can make you answer questions truthfully you may not even be consciously aware of the answer to. This is not good. You really shouldn't talk to me or Jack until this has worn off.!"

"How long will that take?"

"Oh, no more than twelve hours probably. We should hopefully be right as rain before you and Ianto go off to fight the monsters." He sighed, thinking. "We should probably be separated. Put in isolation or something."

"Right, yeah." Said Gwen, taking control of the situation. "Right, Owen, take the Doctor down to the cells. Jack, you go and sit in the little cubby-hole underneath your office."

Rachel sighed inwardly and caught Ianto's eye, exchanging a nervous look. This had better not mess everything up.

* * *

"Um, should we take them some food or something?"

It had been 5 hours since Jack and the Doctor had been hit by the beam, and they hadn't emerged from their isolation spots since then.

Gwen turned to look at Owen. I suppose, probably, yeah. You go down to Jubilee, get a couple of pizzas. Get some for us as well, because I don't know about the rest of you but I'm starving." The others agreed, and Owen went out to buy the food, grumbling that he didn't see why he should go; he couldn't even eat the stuff.

"This is my entire fault isn't it?" said Gwen, miserably after he'd gone. "If I hadn't knocked that stupid orb off the desk…"

"It's ok, really" Rachel tried to reassure her. "Come on, it's not like they're dead or anything, is it?"

"I guess not."

They spent an uncomfortable 15 minutes talking about nothing, when Owen returned.

"Cheers Owen" said Gwen, taking a slice out of one of the boxes. "Ok, who's going to take them the food? Ianto?"

"I'll take Jack's" Ianto replied, picking up one of the boxes.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Rachel.

"Why? I'm not going to ask him anything, don't worry" Ianto disappeared, carrying the pizza box.

"Who's going to take it down to the Doctor?"

Rachel sighed. It was clear none of the other three wanted the task.

"Fine, I'll go." She said wearily, snatching up the pizza box. "Don't eat all that before I get back, I want some too."

"Better hurry up then," Gwen called after her retreating back, her mouth full.

* * *

"Doctor?"

He looked up, to see Rachel standing over him holding a pizza box. "We thought you might be hungry."

"Ta" he said, awkwardly, taking the box. He really hoped she didn't say anything. There were certain things he didn't want people to know, things no one would understand. Especially Rachel…

"You know, you could at least be civil." He looked up at Rachel, surprised. "I know we may not get along, but whilst you're here you could at least treat me like a human being. It's the least you owe me after what you've done."

The Doctor looked at her. "I'm sorry. But, really, I haven't done anything that bad, have I?" he almost pleaded.

"Not that bad! I vanished and you never even tried to find me, did you!?"

"Yes I did"

Both of them stared at each other in shock.

"But…but you said you never looked at me, hadn't seen me for 8 months. That was a lie?"

"Yes."

"So what is the truth?"

He stared at her, hating her. Why was she asking him this? He had hoped to leave without anyone knowing…

"I last saw you about a month ago. Since then, I have spent every moment looking for you. I was beginning to think you might be dead. I was at the school because I noticed weird readings from that area thought I'd take a break from looking and check it out."

Rachel stared at him, her thoughts in turmoil. He had looked for her? Hadn't abandoned her? She was puzzled.

"So…why did you lie? Why not tell me this when you found me?"

"Because I don't like the person you are now."

Rachel gasped as though slapped. Giving him a stunned look, she turned and fled out of the cell.

_Shit._ The Doctor closed his eyes and groaned softly. _Now what have I done?_

* * *

"Jack?"

Jack lifted his head off the pillow and looked at the figure descending the ladder.

"I thought you might like something to eat."

"Ianto, you are a legend" Jack praised, taking a slice of pizza. Ianto smiled and turned to ascend the ladder again, then paused. He knew he had promised Rachel, but he may never get a chance to get an honest answer again…

"Jack? I need to ask you something."

Jack swallowed his mouthful and looked at Ianto, his eyes instantly alert.

"Ianto, I can't not answer truthfully, please don't ask…"

"So, you would lie to me normally?" the Welshman's eyes flashed in anger.

"That's not what I…"

"What are your feelings for Gwen?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. Ianto hadn't meant to just blurt it out like that, but he felt he had to know…

"Nothing. What I feel for Gwen is just lust, just animal attraction. I don't love her, if that's what you mean." He stood up and looked into the younger man's eyes. "She annoys the hell out of me sometimes."

"So, you're not going to suddenly run off with her or anything?"

"No." He pulled Ianto into a hug, kissing him softly on the lips.

Ianto smiled and returned the hug. "I guess I'm being stupid, aren't I? What must you think of me?"

"I love you."

The atmosphere of the room suddenly grew tense as both men froze. Ianto pushed Jack away from him, looking at him like he had never seen him before.

"I – what? What did you just say?"

"I said I love you." Jack looked anxiously at the man in front of him. Damn. He had clearly freaked him out. Hell, if truth be told he had freaked himself out. He had been trying to bury his feelings, convinced himself that he didn't feel that way. He hadn't allowed himself to love anyone since Estelle, so this was almost as much of a shock to him as it was to the other man.

"Ianto? Please say something"

"I, um…I need to go." Casting a horrified look at Jack, he almost ran for the ladder.

"Ianto!"

But the younger man quickly scaled the ladder, and vanished from Jack's view.

* * *

Ianto entered the kitchen in a daze. What had just happened? He needed time alone, time to think…he suddenly realised that he wasn't alone, that Rachel was sitting at the table, her head buried in her hands. He sat down next to her and she looked up, startled. "Ianto! Are you ok? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"I'm not sure." He smiled wanly at her.

"What is it? What happened?"

"Jack just told me he loves me." The two friends sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Wow. I mean…wow. I didn't realise you two had…you know…_that_ kind of relationship. I didn't realise it went that…deep."

"Neither did I" he sighed.

"Um…do you? Love Jack, I mean"

"I honestly don't know." He considered. "I mean, I never really thought about it. I always just assumed I was a casual thing, just someone he'd sleep with if he wasn't feeling so great about something. I never really thought this was, you know, a relationship." He looked across at his friend, and realised her eyes were strangely red and watery. "Rachel? Have you been crying?"

"No" she said, a little too quickly, rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. "No, I was just…"

"Rachel. Talk to me."

"Do you think I'm a bitch?"

"What?! No! Why would you ask that? What's happened, what did someone say?"

She gave a little sob. "It's the Doctor…he lied to me. He did look for me, has been searching for me since I disappeared…"

"And that upsets you?" Ianto looked confused, "I would have thought that would be a good thing?"

"He told me he lied because…because…because he doesn't like the person I am. He thinks I've changed" she sighed. "And I'm not upset about it. I mean, I am, but…I'm mainly angry. With myself. I promised myself I wouldn't let him hurt me again, but…"

"He can still make you feel like shit without even trying?"

"Yeah."

They sat there a little longer.

"I don't think we should wait."

"Wait for what? Going into the chambers, or…"

"Yeah, the chambers." Rachel was looking at him, a dangerous look on her face.

"Rach, we're supposed to wait. So that the others can be outside, ready to back us up…"

"Ianto please. I need this. I need to…I dunno…do something"

Ianto looked into her face. Truth be told, he wanted to get out of the Hub himself, do something reckless to calm himself down. Plus, he really wanted to put off having to talk to Jack again… "Ok" he said. "Let's go."

The two of them snuck out of the kitchen and to the big cog door which had been left open by Owen. Rachel glanced over at Gwen, Toshiko and Owen. They were all three involved in conversation, paying no attention to anything else. Gesturing wordlessly, Rachel slipped through, closely followed by Ianto.

* * *

**Reviews/comments always welcome :). **


	10. A Sting In The Tail

**

* * *

**

This is alot longer than all my other chapters, so hope you still enjoy! :)

* * *

"Hey, how long have Ianto and Rachel been?" Gwen looked around. Their own pizzas were long gone, but she had only just remembered the missing members of their party.

"Maybe Jack wouldn't let Ianto leave." Smirked Owen. "You wanna go check?"

"Maybe…"

"Really?!"

"Not about checking, you berk. About the reason." She clicked her tongue thoughtfully. "But what about Rachel? She's hardly likely to jump that Doctor guy, is she?"

"You never know. Maybe they had a thing before he left her. She did seem incredibly upset about the whole thing…"

"Maybe she killed him?" suggested Toshiko. "And she's getting rid of the body?"

Unlikely though this was, the trio looked at each other nervously. Without another word, Toshiko stood and went over to her computer terminal, calling up the CCTV footage of the cells. "Well, the Doctor's on his own, and he's definitely still alive."

"Maybe she's in the kitchen?"

However, a ten minute search of the entire Hub revealed that the young woman was no longer there. Gwen bit her lip. "I should go and ask Jack and Ianto" she decided. "You two try calling her mobile." She headed into Jack's office. "Jack?"

"What?" came the shouted reply.

"Do you or Ianto know where Rachel could have gone?"

There was a pause. "I have no idea. But I can't speak for Ianto; he left about 45 minutes ago. I think I scared him."

Gwen was about to ask how he had scared the young man, but decided against it. He had to tell the truth and, knowing Jack, she was almost certain she didn't want to know. Then she realised the implications of what Jack had just said.

"Wait, what? Ianto left? But…we haven't seen him either!"

"Fuck! Are you serious?" she heard a scrambling noise, and Jack's head appeared through the trapdoor thing in the floor.

"Yeah. Maybe its ok, their probably together…"

"Shit. They'll have gone to the underground hive, wont they?"

"Alone? Would Ianto do that?"

"No, but Rachel would. And I think she could have easily persuaded Ianto"

"Fuck."

They stared at each other for a minute, and then Jack seemed to reach a decision. "Gwen. I need you, Owen and Toshiko to head out for the rock. I'd rather not go, not until I am fully in control of what I say again…"

"But Jack, we can't go. None of us know where it is."

He stared at her. "For fucks sake, Gwen! It's a big rock in a foresty-type area next to the school! It's not exactly hard to miss!"

Gwen blinked and looked at him coldly. "I'm going to ignore that, on the grounds that you are probably worried about Ianto. But don't you ever speak to me like that again, understand?"

"I understand, yes. Doesn't mean…" he clapped a hand over his mouth, and went back down his ladder. He really didn't want to start an argument with Gwen, who knew what could come out?

* * *

"Is that it?" Rachel whispered pointing at a large, blue box covered in circuitry. It seemed to be wired to everything in the room.

"Looks, likely, doesn't it? Ianto whispered back. He was still surprised how quickly they had managed to get to the central chamber, and without being caught. He had shuddered as he past all the immobile, seemingly lifeless, people hanging from the walls. Is that how he had been?

"So, are you ready?" they had discussed the plan on the way down. Rachel was going to walk out, right in the open, and go up to the box. If nothing happened, she would try and figure out a way to disrupt it. If something did happen…well, then Ianto would need to come up with a plan.

"I don't know. I'm not so sure this is a great idea, we should call the others…"

"It's a bit late now." She turned to face him. "Look, Ianto, I can't do this without you. So are you in or not?"

"Ok. Ok, I'm in"

"Good."

A strange, whispering noise filled the seemingly empty room as Rachel walked across it towards the device. Her heart was pounding in her ears, she was so sure that any second now she was going to feel a pain in her head, that she would suffer the same fate as Jack… only she wouldn't survive it. To her great relief, whatever was whispering allowed her to make her way over to the box. She flashed Ianto a small thumbs up.

_How does this work?_ She wandered, running her hands over the various circuit boards. _How the hell am I supposed to disrupt this thing? Should I just destroy it?_ But what if it was maintaining life support on the stolen people, or something? No, she needed to be clever here, think outside the box.

* * *

"Come on, come on!" roared Owen at the car in front of the SUV. It was going frustratingly slowly, as though afraid to even approach the legal speed limit. An elderly woman popped her head out of the passenger window and flipped them off. Owen growled. Gwen burst out laughing.

"Come on Owen, leave it. Just overtake, its not like the police are gonna get involved."

Owen growled at her, then pulled up onto the pavement and accelerated, leaving the shocked old lady and her slow-driving husband in their wake.

Toshiko took advantage of the momentary silence to voice a concern she'd been having. "Gwen, what exactly are we going to do once we get there? I mean, WE can't go in, can we? And they left without earpieces or mobiles switched on."

"I'm not sure anyone thought that far ahead." Gwen admitted, "Jack just told us to come out here. I think he was a little panicked about Ianto."

Gwen lapsed into silence, thinking about what she had just said. She knew that Jack cared for Ianto, of course she did, but that didn't stop her feeling a little jealous. She knew she had feelings for Jack, and she thought he might return them. Not that she would do anything of course, she'd never hurt Rhys. She consciously blocked out the memory of the shape shifter at her wedding, when she had thought it was Jack and…

"FUCK!" yelled Owen, swerving to avoid a lorry whilst they were in the wrong lane.

"We'll get there" murmured Toshiko soothingly. They had to get there. Losing them didn't bare thinking about.

****

**_What are you doing?_**

Rachel jumped and looked around. The voice had come from inside her head, but she knew that she wasn't the one who had thought it.

**_ How did you get in here? You should have forgotten._**

"I remembered. I – had to see the box" she cringed, well aware of how pathetic and false that sounded. Would it kill her now? She still hadn't figured anything out about the DNA replicator, about how to disrupt it…

_**You should not be here. Go back to the girl's family. We will call you when it is time.**_

Seemingly they were just as gullible now as when they were 'humanized'. "Uh…sure." Rachel didn't move. She couldn't leave, not now, not when she had to disrupt the energy flow…

Disrupt.

That was it.

Would it work? Could it work?

Breathing hard, well aware that if this failed she would surely be killed, Rachel reached into her pocket and pulled out Ianto's earpiece. She teased one of the wires free from the main circuit board of the blue box. She heard the whispering grow more frantic, angrier, but she tried to ignore it. She fed the wire into the earpiece and switched it on, fully opening all communication channels.

* * *

"FUCK!" Owen swerved the SUV and braked sharply, clutching his ear in agony, trying to remove the earpiece. He was not the only one; both Gwen and Toshiko had done exactly the same thing. The pain and noise was terrible, like putting a microphone right next to the speaker and making an incredibly loud noise into it.

* * *

"RUN!" yelled Rachel, as the chamber began to rumble. She had no idea if she had succeeded in ruining the equipment, but she was no way going to stay and find out! If it had failed, they would just have to come back. The whispering noise increased, and sounded angry. It sounded like running next to a load of static. She grabbed Ianto by the hand and they both legged it, preparing at any moment to be attacked from behind…

* * *

At that same moment, all through Cardiff, people froze. Just froze, no movement at all, not even blinking. Quickly word spread about some sort of virus paralysing people. Radio reports warned people to stay in their homes, not to have any contact with 'the infected'. The streets of Cardiff were soon deserted, save for the people frozen like statues, not even moving in the breeze.

* * *

The SUV screeched to a halt outside the school and the three people inside it jumped out and headed for the trees. _How hard could it be to find a rock? _Gwen wandered. She was just looking around a particularly large tree when she heard a shout. Looking round she saw Ianto stumbling through the trees, dragging Rachel after him. She knew instantly something was wrong.

"Tosh! Owen!" they both turned and ran towards her, guns drawn. Upon seeing Ianto, they rushed forwards to help him.

"No! We need to get back to the SUV! Cant stop now!" he choked. They helped him half drag, half carry Rachel back to where the car was parked, and Owen was soon speeding away back towards the water tower.

"Ianto, what the hell?! You scared us half to death! And what happened to Rachel?!"

"I don't know." He sounded frantic. "I don't know. She did something to the equipment, and the room started shaking so we got out. But something – hit her. I don't know what it did to her."

"Don't worry, mate. As soon as we get back to the Hub I'll check her over. Don't you worry about her, ok?" Owen tried his hardest to sound cheerful, but it wasn't easy. _Stupid girl. _He thought bitterly, gazing at Rachel in the rear view mirror. _She brought this on herself. I can't believe Ianto wanted to go in there. What the hell was she thinking?_

* * *

"Jack!" Owen called desperately as they came running into the Hub. "Jack? Where are you?"

"What happened?" asked the big American coming out of his office. He took one look at the four of them supporting the near unconscious Rachel and was instantly hurrying down the stairs, helping them lead her to a chair. "Ianto?" he asked, looking at the young Welshman with such coldness in his eyes it shocked them all.

"I…I don't know. Something hit her."

"Someone go and get the Doctor!" snapped Jack suddenly. "He might know what to do!"

Within 3 minutes Toshiko was hurrying back, the Doctor hot on her heels. His face visibly paled as he saw the state Rachel was in and he hurried forward, buzzing all over her with the sonic screwdriver. Rachel suddenly sat up and swiped the instrument away, so that it flew over their heads and disappeared somewhere under Toshiko's desk. Everyone stared at her in horror. Hey eyes had turned jet black, and she was staring at them each in turn, her face completely devoid of expression.

_**What are you doing to me?**_

They all heard the voice, but the young woman's lips did not move. "Who are you? What have you done to Rachel?" demanded the Doctor.

_**You meddle in things you do not understand, human.**_

"Well, luckily for me I'm not human!" he sounded really angry now. "So I think I understand more than you realise! Now release her!"

_**I cannot. My race is dying. We need bodies.**_

"Well, you can't have ours. This planet is not yours to take!"

_**We do not want your planet. We only want to get home.**_

"How did you get here?" asked Gwen.

_**We lost control and crashed into this barren wasteland you call a planet. Our ship put us into cryogenic suspension. We do not know how long we have been here, only that we want to leave. And you humans with your technology, your skills. You can build things, repair our ship.**_

The Doctor's face lost its hard look. "I can take you home, all of you. Just leave this planet and its people."

_**We do not wish to leave. Since landing here this planet has advanced beyond our own homeland. We wish to stay.**_

Gwen thought it sounded like a spoilt child, demanding its own way. All the same, most spoilt children could not kill you. This thing definitely could. She looked over at the Doctor, who was staring at the thing in disbelief.

"Ianto!" he called suddenly. "You said Rachel did something to the equipment? What?"

"I don't know. Something to do with the earpieces…"

"Oh yes!" whooped the Doctor, pulling one out of his pocket. "So if I can just…" he held his sonic screwdriver up to the device in his hand and looked sadly at the figure before him. "Agree to leave and I can take you away. Somewhere you can start again. Otherwise, I will destroy you."

_**You bluff**_

The Doctor nodded sadly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I did warn you." He activated the sonic screwdriver. The thing in front of him screamed, and the blackness left the young woman's eyes. She slumped forwards and was caught by the Doctor. All across Cardiff, those who had frozen all simultaneously tipped back their heads, screamed, and seemed to fade away into blackness, leaving nothing there.

* * *

"You ok?"

Rachel looked up from the desk she was occupying and saw the Doctor standing over her. The others had all gone out to try and sort out the mess the Neorrets had caused. Probably involving retconning all those who were taken and a cover story about terrorists putting drugs in the water supply. Same old, same old."Yeah." He sat down next to her. "Look, I'm sorry about before, rushing off like that. It was stupid, I put Ianto in danger."

"It's not your fault" said the Doctor automatically.

"No, but I am still. For everything."

The Doctor frowned. "What's brought this on? From the way you reacted back in the cells I didn't think you would speak to me again." He swallowed. "Look, about what I said…"

"It's fine."

"It is?"

"Yes" she turned to look at him. "Because I've figured out why you don't like me, and its nothing to do with the sort of person I am. It's because you think I don't need you."

The Doctor frowned at her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you have to feel needed. All your companions, no matter how outgoing or brave or resourceful they are. They are always going to need you to save them from some sort of situation. And you need that. Me being Kalamarai, I can handle most situations. I won't get caught in traps by aliens, I won't ever get stuck somewhere. And you hate that."

The Doctor felt suddenly strange "I'm sorry for what I said. I really am. But you can't turn this round onto me." He turned to look at her. Her face was turned away from him. He noticed how her chestnut hair sparkled in the light reflected from the cascading water on the tower next to them. He reached out and touched her hand. "Rachel…?"

She turned to face him, looking straight into his eyes. "I saw it in your eyes when that thing possessed me. I saw your concern, how much you cared when you thought I needed you."

"I…" he struggled to find the words, gazing deeply into her eyes. The light seemed to dance in them. They were such a beautiful shade of blue. He had missed those eyes… He suddenly became aware that his hand was still on hers, and of the proximity of their faces. His gaze flicked down to her mouth, and she licked her lips nervously. Suddenly the moment became intense. They sat there for what felt like hours, frozen. All he could think of was the girl sitting in front of him of how much he'd missed her. Then they both began to lean forwards towards each other, slowly, jerkily, their faces mere centimetres apart…

BIRRRRRRR!

At the sound of the huge cog door opening Rachel pulled her hand away and jumped back as though she'd been burnt. Her face turning scarlet, she hurried out the door, past the five people who had just walked in.

"What was that about?" asked Jack in amazement, looking after her.

"Oh, we just had a little argument." The Doctor said airily. But inside, his thoughts were churning. _What had just happened? He'd missed Rachel, sure, but just as a friend. So why had he just wanted to kiss her so badly?_

_And why did he still want to?_

"Listen, Doctor, thanks for this, it's been great to see you…" Jack broke off and turned to glare at Ianto, whose phone had just bleeped a message tone. "Can you turn that thing off? Jeeze!"

"Sorry" muttered Ianto, reading the message. If anyone had been paying him attention, they would have seen his hands shake slightly, his face grow deathly pale. But no one was, so when he walked shakily into Jack's office no one really noticed him leave.

"So where will you go now?" asked Jack.

"Oh, you know. Wherever the feeling takes me." The Doctor grinned. "It was nice to meet you all! Jack told me so much about you, and it's nice to know none of it is true!"

They all turned to stare at Jack, wandering what he could have said.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. He was nothing but complementary about the lot of you!" the Doctor laughed cheerily.

Jack laughed, and pulled his old friend into a hug. "Now, don't forget about me! You don't visit nearly enough! Come on, I'll walk you out to the TARDIS…"

"No you wont Jack" came Ianto's voice, quietly.

"Excuse me?!"

"I said, no; you won't. I can't let you leave." He looked around at the group. "Any of you."

"Ianto, what are you talking about?" Jack looked up into his lover's eyes and saw pain, sorrow, but also a cold quality he had only seen once before. After he had told him to kill Lisa…. What was going on?

Ianto took a breath. "Jack Harkness, this is a hostile takeover. I am relieving you of your duties as head of Torchwood Three. Control of this facility will now pass directly to…"

"Fuck off" said Owen sharply.

"Don't be stupid" said Jack, still confused. "You can't do that…"

"Yes he can, Jack."

Everyone turned to see Rachel walk through the large cog door.

Followed by 10 armed men, who promptly aimed at Toshiko, Gwen, Owen, Jack and the Doctor. They were outnumbered.

"I'm sorry." She said as she walked across the Hub to stand next to Ianto. "Really I am. But Torchwood is no longer under your control." She looked at them all, carefully avoiding looking at the Doctor.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" demanded Gwen. "You can't just take over!"

"Actually they can." A woman walked into the hub and smiled at Jack with steel in her gaze.

"And you are…?"

"Colleen Hartman. I believe you were familiar with my sister."

**

* * *

**

Sorry it's such a long one, guys, I just couldn't find a suitable point to break it into two chapters! Rate and review please :)


	11. Revenge

* * *

**Ok, this chapters even longer than the last one. Oops, sorry about that lol. it's mainly due to the flashbacks included in this chapter. Any section written in italics ****is a flashback, by the way so no-one gets confused. And not all the flashbacks are in chronological order, but i have tried to put a time scale in there. Enjoy! :)**

**_

* * *

_****__**

2 Months previously

**__****__**

_"Ianto Jones?"_

_Ianto looked up at the sound of his name. "Yes?"_

_The woman stood in front of him was about 30, blonde, and strangely familiar. He couldn't think where he had met her before._

"_Can I sit down?" without waiting for conformation, she slid into the seat across from Ianto._

"_Um…I'm sorry, but who are you?"_

"_Oh, plenty of time for that later. Right now I have a little job proposition for you…"_

"_I'm not interested, thanks. I already have a job." Smiling politely, he stood up and left the Café. He had only walked a few steps, however, when he realised the woman had followed him._

"_Oh, I know all about your 'job' Ianto. You're nothing but the Torchwood tea boy, or at least you were before Jack Harkness went missing , hired because his boss has the hots for him."_

_Ianto stopped walking. How the hell did she know about Torchwood – and about when he was hired?_

"_What did you say your name was?" he asked, frowning slightly._

"_Colleen. Colleen Hartman."_

_And then Ianto realised why she looked so familiar._

"_As in Yvonne Hartman's sister?"_

"_The very same. Ianto, I want to rebuild what she had, but make it better. I want to recreate Torchwood one. And I want you to help me."_

"_No way. I saw what that place did. The world is better without it."_

"_And that's why I need you. You can provide much more of a – moral compass, shall we say."_

"_No. Sorry, but I'll just be going now. Don't contact me again." He turned and walked quickly away from her._

"_Don't you want to know why Lisa really died?"_

_That stopped him. He turned back around to face Colleen. "I'm listening…"_

* * *

This couldn't be happening. Jack Harkness stood, frozen in shock, staring up at the man he loved. This had to be a trick, or a bad dream or something. Because if it wasn't then it meant that Ianto, _his _Ianto, had just stolen Torchwood from him. Had, in fact, been conspiring against him… with Yvonne Hartman's sister, of all people.

And Rachel, of course.

He couldn't believe it, he had welcomed her into the team, hell he had _trusted_ her! And now look what had happened…

"I'm sorry" Rachel repeated. "You can all consider your contracts terminated." This was met by a stunned silence.

"You…you can't do that!" Gwen protested.

"Yes I can. Oh, and I'm going to need you to call in Rhys. None of you can remember."

"Like hell I will!"

"Gwen, if you don't call him here, we will have to go and fetch him. Which option would you prefer?" Rachel smiled sweetly.

Gwen glared at her, hatred etched into her face. She pulled out her mobile and dialled Rhys' number.

_**

* * *

**_

6 weeks 

_**previously**_

"_Ianto, what the hell is this?"_

_Ianto walked around the desk and peered at the computer screen. And froze. On the screen was an open email message from Colleen Hartman. He had been forced to let Rachel use his email account, as Jack was yet to set one up for her. He hadn't been happy about it., he still hadn't forgiven the young woman for pointing a gun at his head._

_He frowned at her, coldly. "You read my emails?!"_

"_Ianto! I don't think you can take the moral high ground here! What the hell is this?"_

"_It's nothing. She just – keeps pestering me to work for her, that's all."_

"'_Just' work for her! Ianto! Look what she's asking you to do! And are you going to?!"_

"_No! Look ,not that it's any of your business, but I haven't said anything to her, ok? I didn't even know she had my email address." He sighed. He could tell the young woman didn't believe him. "Rachel, just leave it, ok?" he stormed away, leaving a very apprehensive looking Rachel behind him._

* * *

"Babe? What's going on?"

Rhys had just turned up, only to be accosted by an armed guard and shepherded into the centre of the Hub with the others.

"Rachel and Ianto!" spat Gwen. "They've only gone and mutinied, haven't they?!"

"No way? Are you serious?"

"Oh yeah! Rhys…they sacked us all. We're going to get our memories wiped." Gwen was horrified to realise she was about to cry.

"Hey! Hey, it'll be ok!" Rhys pulled her to him, hugging her tight. He turned to Jack, who was standing there gazing into space, as though in shock. "So, what are you going to do about all this?"

"Hmm?" Jack turned to him, his face still curiously blank. "Nothing I can do. He's taken everything…" he sat down on the floor, still gazing blankly ahead of him. _How could Ianto do this? And how could I not have noticed…?_

_**

* * *

**_

3 days previously

_"Ianto!" the young man kept walking, heading into the vaults. Rachel felt like she could have killed the Doctor, twittering on about Cybermen in front of Ianto. "Ianto, wait!" Rachel caught up to him when he was amongst the catalogued items, and grabbed his arm. _

_"How could he talk about it like that…"_

_"Ianto, he's not used to having emotional attachments, he forgets…"_

_"That's not good enough! That was one of the worst days of my life, and he's just joking about it! Those 'Cybermen' were people. Living, breathing people! And they were killed! Lisa was killed!…" he stopped talking and breathed heavily, his face contorted with grief and rage._

_"I know! I know! Look, I know he's a total ass sometimes, but you mustn't let him get to you." She sighed, ran her fingers through her hair. "You can't afford to let personal feelings ruin our plans. If we don't lead the Torchwood takeover…"_

_"I know. And don't worry, I'm not going to kill him or anything. I just…how can he talk about it like that?"_

_He just…that's his way of coping I guess."_

_"You know, for someone with two hearts he is remarkably lacking in empathy." Ianto smiled thinly. "I just can't wait to see him in a few weeks, when we'll take over. Then we'll see who's laughing…"_

_Rachel nodded. "Come on. Let's get back to the others. We can't afford to raise any suspicions…"_

* * *

"Look, I'm sorry. I am. But you can't stay here, not when your loyalty may still be to Jack." None of the four people in front of her even looked up. Colleen and Ianto had taken Jack and the Doctor off to the cells. "I am going to make sure you're all ok, you know. Give you perfect lives. You should be grateful, not everyone…"

"You want us to be happy?" spat Owen. "Fuck off. I never wanted you here in the first place, and I was right wasn't I?! You want to give us good lives? This job _is _my life."

"I'm sorry you feel that way" Rachel replied coolly, masking the hurt she felt at Owen's words. "Still, 5 minutes and you won't know me at all. Lucky you, eh?" she turned sharply and disappeared into Jack's – or was it hers now? – office.

"Now, now, Mr Harkness, lets have no more games, shall we?" Colleen smiled nastily and pressed the button in her hand. Immediately both the Doctor and Jack crippled over in agony, groaning. Ianto made a funny sort of spasm in Jack's direction.

"Mr Jones, I hope you're not weakening? You will need a strong stomach in this institute."

"Ianto!" Jack gasped, looking up at the man he had trusted, who he had loved. "Ianto! Why are you doing this? They are the reason Lisa is dead! They as good as killed her!"

"No, Jack" Ianto looked down at the figure of the Doctor, who was still on all fours and gasping at the pain that had racked his body. "HE as good as killed her. I will get my revenge for what happened that day."

"Why now? Why…"

"You know, I was wondering that myself." Colleen said, turning to Ianto. "Why did you bring this forwards? I would have been quite happy to wait another few weeks. Why did you call me yesterday and tell me to bring the takeover forward to today?"

Ianto accidentally caught Jack's eyes, and saw the hurt in them. He knew why.

"I wanted this taken care of. I wanted to get my revenge in the best possible way."

Colleen smiled at the hatred in Ianto's tone of voice. She pushed the button again.

_**

* * *

**_

3 days previously

_Ianto pulled Rachel to one side, whilst the others were all pre-occupied with the Doctor. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"_

_She shot him a warning look. "Ianto now is not the time to be getting cold feet."_

"_I know, but…"_

"_Ianto! Those…**people**__ are responsible for Lisa's death maybe not directly so, but they are still responsible. Don't you want revenge for that? Don't you __**deserve **__revenge for that?"_

"_I know, I know. And I do want revenge. But the others, Tosh and the rest of them. They aren't responsible. I don't want them to get hurt…"_

"_Ianto, I swear I will not let them get hurt. We have an agreement with Colleen, remember?"_

_He sighed. "I suppose so. But I just…"_

_Rachel laid a warning hand on his arm. He glanced up to see Jack staring at them, eyes narrowed suspiciously._

* * *

Rachel looked out of the office door, to see Colleen emerging from the cells. She hurried down the stairs to meet her.

"Ok, Rachel, you may administer the Retcon" Rachel turned to look behind Colleen, and saw that she was accompanied by a very pale Ianto, and Jack and the Doctor, both of whom looked like they had been through terrible pain and suffering. Rachel turned her head to avoid their eyes. There was so much hurt in both of them…_no. you chose to do this. He deserves this, they both do…_

"Ok. Ianto, could you get me the 4 pills I prepared?"

"Three pills I think, Miss Fielding." Colleen interrupted, smiling sweetly. Rachel frowned.

"No, four. Toshiko, Gwen, Rhys and Owen. Four."

"Oh, Mr Harper won't need one. He'll be coming with us."

"We had a deal Colleen. You get Jack and the Doctor for your 'experiments', and the rest go free."

"Don't be stupid, child! He's a walking corpse! How the hell are we supposed to settle him into a new life? The man's dead!"

For a brief second, Owen thought he saw pure panic pass over Rachel and Ianto's faces, and they exchanged a stricken look. But then Rachel smiled back. "Of course. Silly of me. Ok, Yan, three pills should do it."

"What about me?" Owen asked. Colleen smiled. "Oh, you can help us in our little experiments. So thrilling, three people, none of whom can die. And all in such different ways! Yes, I think you'll benefit the Torchwood industry nicely."

Owen, Jack and the Doctor stared at each other in horror. They had trusted the wrong people, and now it was too late.

_**

* * *

**_

3 days previously

" '_I don't want to lose you' – honestly!" Ianto looked over to where Jack was talking to the Doctor._

"_So, we both go into the caves/hive/tunnels, or whatever the hell we're calling it now. Someone's gonna have to tell Colleen, it's not long until we take control of what's happening."_

"_I know. When are you next meeting her?"_

"_Not until tomorrow. Do you think we can stall Jack from sending us out until then?"_

"_He'll want daylight, so that nothing can sneak up on them from the darkness."_

"_Good. Ok, I'll pretend to be pissed about it. If it looks like we want to wait then he might think something's up…"_

"_For fucks sake, Rachel! Stop making everything so bloody complicated! This is already going to be hard, so just stop acting like you know everything and concentrate on the plan!"_

"_ME make things hard! You're the one who's always going on about attacks of conscience…"_

"_Ianto!" Ianto turned his head and spotted Jack. He turned back to Rachel._

"_Sorry" he muttered, smiling apologetically at her. He went into Jack's office._

Idiot._ Thought Rachel. She jumped when she felt a vibration in her pocket, then realised it was her phone. She pulled it out and frowned at the display screen, then her eyes widened when she realised it was Colleen. _How the hell did she get my number?_ She wondered. She glanced up at Jack's office automatically, wishing Ianto was here for this conversation. It was going to be awkward getting him to one side to relate everything. Wait, what was she thinking? No way could she have this conversation now…_

"_What?" she said, answering the phone. "And how did you get this number? I call you, remember?"_

"_Oh, honey, you don't honestly think we don't have equipment to get past your using 141, do you?" she laughed. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about the plan…"_

"_Look, I'm at the Hub right now, ok? I will call you later, when there's no one but Ianto around, ok?" without waiting for a reply, she hung up. Looking around, she was relieved to see that no one appeared to have noticed the phone call. The Doctor and Toshiko were deep in discussion, Gwen was busy filing, and she didn't even know where Owen was. With a relieved smile, she began to go through some of the weapons they possessed._

* * *

"You had better hope I don't remember" hissed Gwen, as Rachel passed her the pill. She ignored her. She watched as, one by one, all three people swallowed the small pills, and passed out. She swallowed nervously. This was going to be the hard part.

"Miss Fielding, If you wouldn't mind?" she turned and walked over to where Colleen was standing, next to the three remaining prisoners. "I'm going to need them unconscious."

"Right." Rachel went and stood in front of Jack, avoiding his gaze. She recoiled slightly as he spat in her face, something which earned him a sharp _crack _on the head with the barrel of one of the guns. Without pausing, Rachel hit him on the sides of his neck, just over his pulse. He collapsed onto the floor. She moved over to the Doctor.

"Rachel…" she looked up at him when he spoke, and the Doctor frowned slightly. Her eyes were so full of…what, exactly? Hurt? Regret? Sorrow? Before he could think about it, really think about it, he too had joined Jack in a heap on the floor.

"Right, you men, I'm going to need you to tie and gag this one…" Colleen pointed to Owen.

"Oi! I thought you wanted me to put them out!" Rachel glared at her.

"And how are you going to do that? He doesn't have a pulse!"

"Oh, this technique doesn't rely on a pulse. It'll be fine."

Colleen smiled, impressed in spite of herself. "Ok then. Do your stuff."

Rachel turned and looked at Owen. To his surprise she didn't try and look at his chest or the floor, as she had done with Jack and the Doctor, but looked right into his eyes. She stared at him, then her eyes deliberately flicked down to the unconscious figures on the floor. Back to Owen's eyes, then back to Jack and the Doctor. She looked back up at Owen for a third time, and winked. Her meaning could not have been plainer to Owen. _She wants me to pretend to pass out. Why? If she can't do it on me without a pulse, why didn't she say so? Why did she lie to that bitch Hartman? _The next second he felt her hit his neck. He didn't really think about it, just allowed himself to flop down onto the floor and closed his eyes.

"Anyone want a drink?" he heard Ianto ask. "Coffee?" several murmurs of thanks. Owen waited like that for what felt like half an hour. Eyes shut, feeling alone. Blind. Vulnerable.

"Colleen?" Ianto's voice sounded concerned. "Colleen, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, mate. Just a bit tired is all."

"Come on, sit down here…" Owen struggled to hear anything else. He thought he heard several _thumps_, as if someone had fallen.

"Are they down?" he heard Rachel whisper. He heard two people moving about.

"Hello? Hello, can you hear me? Colleen?" Silence. "Yes. All out for the count."

Rachel sighed. "Owen!" she said. "You can get up now!"

Owen opened his eyes and stood up sharply, startling Ianto, who looked at Rachel, alarmed.

"What? you didn't honestly believe I could painlessly knock him out without his having a pulse did you? I don't think that can even be done anywhere in the universe." She turned to Owen and smiled. "Thanks for being so quick on the uptake. If you hadn't gone down when I hit you…well, it could have been nasty." Owen did not return the smile. Instead, he stooped down and took one of the fallen guard's guns, pointing it at Rachel.

"Just exactly what the hell is going on here?"

_**

* * *

**_

One month previously

"_Ianto, I need to talk to you. It's about that email…" Ianto sighed. He should have known better than to think Rachel would just drop it, but he had hoped that, since they had become closer since she had found the email, she might have let it lie, trusted him not to do anything. "look, I ran it through the computer, traced it back to its source. Then I hacked into the machine it was sent from…"_

"_you're getting almost as good as Toshiko." Ianto told her, and smiled. Not that he would ever tell Tosh that, of course. Rachel bit her lip._

"_Ianto, there's something you need to see…" she handed him a few sheets of A4 paper. As Ianto read them, the blood seemed to drain from his face. "They have a backup plan, Ianto. If you don't help them, they're coming in anyway. Only you'll be on their target list as well, then"_

_Ianto looked up. "We need to warn Jack. If he knows Colleen is planning this, he can tell people, sort something out…"_

"_And what if they agree with her? You know as well as I do that Jack's methods aren't the most popular in parliament."_

"_well, what then? Are you suggesting I should just help them so I can still have a job? What kind of sick bastard do you think I am? I can't betray them like that…"_

"_Ianto, calm down, that's not what I meant. I meant, we need to stop her. For good."_

"_Kill her?"_

"_not exactly, no. I was thinking more along the lines of a trap."_

_Ianto frowned, not quite following her line of thought. "Trap?"_

_Rachel sighed, frustrated. "As in, we both tell her we're gonna help. Going to get her in, sort everyone out. Then, we can spring our own little surprise."_

_Ianto stared. "But – what about the others? Do we tell them?"_

"_NO! we can't let them know. If they find out then we could all be in danger. No, we're going to have to make them think we're involved. Make them think we betrayed them…"_

_Ianto swallowed. "but Jack…"_

"_So, he gets a bit of a scare! Big whoop! Better than the alternative and you know it. Besides, maybe he deserves a bit of a shock."_

_A smile spread slowly over Ianto's face. "True."_

* * *

Gwen stirred into consciousness, her head pounding. Where was she? She had been with Rhys, she remembered that…she opened her eyes slowly, blinking to try and clear her fuzzy vision. She saw Rhys sitting next to her at the boardroom table, fast asleep and drooling… the boardroom! She was in the Hub! A fog suddenly lifted from around her brain, and she remembered everything. Why could she still remember everything? Had the retcon not worked on her, like before? Was she the 1 in 800,000 that wasn't affected? Suddenly she heard voices approaching, and laid her head back on the table, closing her eyes.

"I'm so glad this all worked out. I was shitting myself this afternoon." She recognised that voice as Rachel.

"YOU were shitting yourself! When I had to tell them all I was taking over! God, I've never been so nervous in my life! If you hadn't come back when you did…" she heard Ianto reply.

"That was lucky. After I ran out of the building, Colleen and her cronies where just approaching the entrance. They were early."

"I can't believe you managed to pull this off, Ianto. I may have to rethink my views on you…" what the hell?! That was Owen's voice! Gwen felt her heart skip. He was in on this too? "So, what happens to them?" she heard Owen ask. "Oh, I gave them all a pretty strong dose of retcon. We've already implemented their new lives into their brains, all we need to do now is dump them." Gwen frowned slightly. She felt sure she should remember something, if they had given her a new identity… not hearing any more voices, she sat up.

And almost had a heart attack when she saw Rachel, Ianto and Owen all staring at her. To her surprise, Ianto smiled.

"Gwen! Nice to have you back among the world of the wide awake."

"What's going on? Owen?"

"Relax, Gwen. It's all fine, it's all been a trick. Rachel and Ianto explained it all to me, they were trying to stop Colleen…"

"Why am I still remembering this? I thought you dosed us with retcon?"

Rachel smiled, pleased with herself. "Nope. You just had plain old sedative, knocked you right out. No lasting damage, and no memory loss. Just instant sleeping."

Gwen stared at her, not quite believing what she was hearing. "You knocked us out? You let that woman do God knows what to Jack, and you expect us to be happy?"

"We had no choice!" the younger woman snapped back at her. "They were going to take over anyway. This way, Ianto and I could get them back."

Gwen looked into Rachel's eyes, and saw that she was telling the truth. "How long have you known? How long have you been planning this?"

"About a month. My third week in Torchwood, I believe"

"But…"

"Look, Gwen, no offence but can this wait until later? We've got a dozen unconscious people out there who all need to be put into their new lives before they wake up, and we could really use your help."

_**

* * *

**_

The previous day

"_I can't do this."_

_Rachel turned and stared incredulously at the man next to her, then turned her gaze back to the road. They were in Ianto's car, on their way to sort out the Neorrets. "What do you mean, you can't do this?" she demanded. "You could have told me that back at the Hub!"_

"_No, I don't mean this. I mean, the whole takeover thing." Rachel's eyes flicked back to him, shocked._

"_Ianto, we cant back out now. Just give it two weeks, yeah? Everything will be ready for it to happen by then. We have it all arranged…"_

"_Rachel, he told me he loves me! How can I face him, have to talk to him, knowing that I plan to hurt him like this?"_

"_so, what? you want to back out of the deal?"_

"_No. I want to bring it forwards. I want it to happen today." Rachel braked hard and turned to face Ianto. It was lucky they were on a side road and not one with lots of cars, or there could have been a very nasty accident._

"_Today? Are you crazy? We're not ready, we haven't planned it all. So much could still go wrong…"_

"_I don't care. I can't wait any longer. If I'd known how Jack felt before, I…"_

"_Ianto, how do you feel about Jack?"_

_The Welshman looked across at her in confusion. "I just told you, about 10 minutes ago, in the kitchen. Remember?"_

"_No, you just said that you hadn't thought of it as a relationship. If you had, how do you feel about him?" _

_Ianto was silent for a minute. How did he feel about Jack? To be honest, he'd never given it much thought, believing it all to be about sex. Mind you…there had been 'moments' when he had thought there may be more to it. That dance at Gwen's wedding, for example, and what was it Jack had said when Ianto had asked him about his own time? 'I've loved people I never would have known if I'd just stayed where I was. And I wouldn't change that for the world.' And he'd looked right at him. Had he been trying to tell him he loved him, even way back then? "I care about him. I do. maybe, in time I could even…but it's too late for that now. I'm going to call Colleen, tell her it happens today, or it doesn't happen. You should start driving again, or we'll never make it there."_

_Rachel frowned at him as he took out his mobile and dialled Colleen's number. She hoped he knew what he was doing. _

* * *

"Jack?" Jack Harkness heard the voice calling him, as though it were miles away. Where was he? Had they moved him, locked him up somewhere? "Jack, can you hear me? It's Gwen." Gwen! What was she doing here? He struggled up through his mind, fighting his way back to consciousness. He opened his eyes, and saw four figures standing over him.

"Is he ok?"

"I don't know. How hard did you hit him?"

"Not that hard. There shouldn't be any lasting damage, it was just enough to knock him out…"

He felt hands touching his face, taking his pulse. "Jack? Can you talk to me please." A man's voice. Not Ianto's. What was going on here? Jack forced himself to sit up, and looked at the people before him. Ianto and Rachel he'd expected, but not Gwen. Not Owen.

"What's going on here?" he demanded. Looking around at them all. Was his whole team involved in this…plot?

"I'm sorry Jack." Ianto muttered.

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Yes, actually." The young man answered, eyes blazing. "more so than you do." He threw some sheets of paper at Jack.

"What's this?" asked Jack, frowning as his eyes skimmed over the pieces of paper.

"Colleen's plan. The one she was going to implement if I didn't help her to take over."

"It was a trap, Jack, but not for us." Owen informed him. "they were double-crossing Hartman the whole time."

Jack looked up, and saw the Doctor, Toshiko and Rhys still unconscious, lying in the boardroom. Rachel followed his gaze. She saw Toshiko stir slightly.

"Owen, Gwen, we need to check on those guys." She looked at her watch. "Gwen, you woke up – what, an hour ago? They should be waking up now." The three of them left the room.

Ianto swallowed nervously, looking at the man sat in front of him. Jack looked terrible, the pain Colleen Hartman _– and he, Ianto – _had inflicted on him written all over him.

"Jack?" No response. "Jack, please look at me. Say something. Please."

Jack looked up. "what do you want me to say, Ianto? You betrayed this team…you betrayed _me._"

"I didn't! if I hadn't done this it would have been a lot worse…"

"Ianto, I told you I…I loved you. And the first thing you did was call Hartman in earlier. Did you want to hurt me that much, Ianto?"

"We never planned for you to get hurt. I couldn't…"

"What if she'd taken us somewhere else? Or killed the Doctor, or Gwen, or Tosh. What then, hmm? One of us could have died, Ianto."

"That was a risk we had to be willing to take. I couldn't let there be another Torchwood One, Jack, I just couldn't."

Ianto looked desperately into Jack's face, trying to find some sign that it was all going to be ok. He saw nothing but pain. "Please. I didn't think properly, I just needed revenge, for Lisa, for everything…"

"I hope it was worth it." Jack said softly and, standing, he swept out of the room.

* * *

**Thanks to those people who reviewed and added me to story alert and stuff. it means a lot! Keep those reviews coming!**

**

* * *

**

2 Months previously


	12. Shock

"How are they?" asked Rachel, as Owen came wandering into the kitchen.

"They're doing ok. Bit shaken up, understandably." He shot her a look.

"I didn't have any choice, Owen. I had to make Colleen believe I was on her side. We both did."

Owen sighed. "I know." He looked at the girl in front of him. She looked so tired, as if she hadn't slept for years. "I'm, um, sorry about what I said before. You know, about not wanting you around. I was angry, so I lied."

She looked up at him, surprised. "No you didn't. But thank you." She smiled at him. "How's the Doctor? Can I see him?"

"Not sure that's such a good idea." Owen advised her gently. Seeing the look of horror that came over her face, he quickly added, "He's fine. Just doesn't really, umm, want to see…you right now."

"Oh." she stared ahead of her, reflectively. "Could I see him anyway? I really want to explain…"

* * *

The Doctor glared at the person who had just walked in. he felt he had nothing to say to her.

"Doctor? Doctor, please listen to me."

"I have nothing to say to you, Rachel. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know, I don't know. I just followed my gut instinct…"

"That's why you're never any good in a crisis. You can't think far enough ahead." Rachel looked as though she had been slapped, and the Doctor felt a twinge of guilt at his words.

"Fuck you, Doctor. Fuck you if you can't understand why I did it…" her voice was so cold, so full of hurt. The Doctor felt a sudden surge of anger at the fact she was making it about her.

"Oh, I know why you think you did it. But admit it, you enjoyed it. You enjoyed watching us suffer."

"No, I…"

"What if she'd killed me?"

"I wouldn't have let that happen. Doctor…"

"You weren't there! You were talking to the others!"

"I was trying to save you. It may not have been the best plan, I admit, but I did it to save you."

"Save me! You never wanted to save me!"

Rachel's eyes filled with tears, and she angrily brushed them aside. "Fine! That's what you think, fine! Next time you're in trouble I won't bother. I'll just sit back and watch you SUFFER AND DIE!" with that, she turned and ran from the room, the Doctor staring angrily at her retreating back.

* * *

It was cold by the harbour side, Rachel thought as she gazed out over the water. She had needed to get away from the Hub, get into the fresh air. Now she had cooled down slightly, she felt terrible about what she had said to the Doctor. She didn't want him to hate her, no matter how selfish that sounded. She should really go and apologise…

"You ok?" Ianto asked from behind her. "Owen told me about your little shouting match…"

"I'm fine. Thanks. I should apologise to him, shouldn't I?"

"Maybe. That was pretty harsh, what you said. Mind you, I can't say he didn't deserve some of it."

Rachel smiled at her companion. She couldn't think of a time without Ianto, how she had managed. _You had the Doctor_. A voice in her head said, but she pushed it aside.

"Come on, Yan. We need to go back." As they turned and headed back to the Hub, neither of them saw the shadowy creature, watching them, before it slipped back into the shadows.

"Is anyone here?" Rachel asked as they walked into the main building five minutes later.

"I think so. They didn't say they were going anywhere. HELLO?" Ianto called. His voice echoed eerily, but no answering shout came back to them. The two exchanged looks, and pulled out their guns. It could just be that they were being ignored, but better safe than sorry.

"Ianto, you check down in the cells. I'm going to look around outside." Rachel ordered. With a nod, Ianto headed down the steps.

Rachel swallowed as she stepped back out into the cold air. She felt adrenaline surging through her, felt as though she were being watched. She spun around full circle, but could see no one. Keeping her gun as low as possible, so as not to cause alarm, she began to circle the big tower that sat above the Hub. She could see nothing unusual. She was just about to give up, when she heard a noise from behind her. Sort of a strangled gasp. She whirled around and saw something stood not 10 feet away from her. She stared at it in panic. It had managed to get so close without her noticing! The creature was big, at least 10 feet, and dark, as though made of the night itself. Its face sort of _shifted_, so she couldn't really tell what it looked like. But it was none of these things that held her frozen in shock. The thing that made her so panicked, was the fact that It held the Doctor in its grip, its knife-like claw held up to his throat. His eyes were open bambi-wide, and he was staring at her, pleadingly.

"I NEEDED THEM" the creature spoke in a deep, gravely voice that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "I NEEDED THEM, AND YOU DESTROYED THEM."

"Needed who? Who are you?"

"MY NAME IS GAHL-HOOR. I CRASH LANDED ON THIS- PLANET ABOUT 400 CLUPS AGO. AND I NEED TO LEAVE."

"Ok, so who did you need?" Rachel couldn't take her eyes off the Doctor.

"THE SPIRIT CREATURES. I WOKE THEM FROM THEIR SLUMBER SO THEY COULD BUILD ME A SHIP. BUT YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING. I KNEW YOU WOULD BE A PROBLEM, FROM THE MOMENT I SAW YOU AT THAT SCHOOL. YOU ARE NOT LIKE THE OTHERS, YOU HAVE INTELLIGENCE. BUT I LET YOU LIVE, AND YOU RUINED EVERYTHIN. AND BECAUSE OF THAT, EVERYTHING ON THIS PLANET SHALL BURN AND DIE" its head lowered, as if to look at the man it held. "STARTING WITH HIM."

"Rachel, help me…" she looked at the Doctor, frozen. "Rachel, please…" She couldn't move. Couldn't think. All she could concentrate on was how close the claw was to his throat, how she could never get to him in time, how easy it would be for it to… A shot suddenly rang out through the silence. Followed by another. And another. The creature bucked and swung around, dropping the Doctor. Captain Jack was running towards it, followed closely by Gwen. Both were firing, empting their clips into the creature. With a final roar, it fell. As though a spell had been broken, Rachel staggered. She looked wildly at the fallen figure, ran towards him. Had it just dropped him? Or had it… she didn't even want to think about that possibility. She reached the Doctor, tried to sit him up, but to her surprise he pushed her roughly away.

"I never thought you would…" he was staring at her as if she was no better than the thing that had grabbed him. "I never thought you would actually…you were actually going to let me die, weren't you?"

Rachel suddenly realised what he was thinking, what they all must think. She opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by a look from Jack. He and Gwen helped the Doctor to his feet, and they set off towards the invisible lift, leaving Rachel kneeling on the ground.

* * *

"He hates me" Rachel sobbed into Ianto's shoulder. It was an hour since the confrontation with Gahl-Hoor, and the two of them were back at Ianto's flat.

"I'm sure he doesn't."

"He does! He actually thought…I thought he would know me better than that, know I wasn't capable…they all think I was going to let him die."

"Rachel, what did actually happen?"

"You think I wanted to watch him die too!"

"No!" the young man protested, hastily. "No, I don't. Honestly. I just want to know what happened."

"I saw him in danger, and I froze. God, that sounds so stupid, but I just froze. Forgot everything I'd been through, all my training, everything. I became that stupid, scared little girl I was when he first met me, unable to look after myself. And because of that, he thinks I was actually going to… she broke off with a sob.

Ianto sighed, unsure what to do. He wanted to make everything ok, but how could he? Rachel's sobs quietened down, and eventually ceased. Ianto realised she had fallen asleep. Carefully, so as not to disturb her, he lay her down and covered her with a blanket. He would try and talk to the Doctor in the morning.

* * *

"Hey, Doctor" Owen said as he walked into the autopsy room and saw him sitting on the autopsy table.

"Oh! Sorry, I thought everyone had left." The Doctor jumped off the table, as though caught doing something wrong.

"You're fine there if you want. I just need to check on some blood samples." Owen smiled. He began to get on with his work, when he felt the Doctor watching him. "So…I thought you would have left by now." He said, hoping to break the silence.

"I would have done. But my ship needs to refuel. Haven't really had a chance in a while."

"Refuel? What, you need to go to a garage or something? What does it use?"

"Oh, she runs off rift energy" the Doctor told him. "Nice and useful. Just park her somewhere in Cardiff and let the engines soak it all up."

"Cool. Is Rachel gonna grab any of her stuff out before you go?"

"Why would she do that?"

Owen frowned and paused momentarily. "Well, she left all her stuff with you, didn't she? I mean, you should let her take it back, it's the least you owe her."

"I owe her nothing." The Doctor said, icily. Owen turned and stared at the man in front of him. He didn't know why, coz Rachel wasn't exactly his favourite person in the world – to put it mildly – but he had sudden urge to hit him. He stopped himself. That wouldn't solve anything. Still, didn't mean he couldn't do something else… he grabbed the Doctor by the neck of his shirt and slammed him into the wall, causing him to cry out in pain.

"What're you…" the Doctor started to say, angry, but Owen cut him off.

"She went through hell for you! The things she saw before she ended up here, the things she endured whilst she was here! You have no idea what you owe her! I don't know exactly what happened out there, but I saw the state she was in when she came back inside. She was in bloody shock! But no, you couldn't see that, couldn't see beyond the empty threat she made in the heat of the moment when she was angry. Even I know she wouldn't be capable of watching a man die. You used to be her friend. How could you not even know her." He let go of the Doctors shirt and left, flinging him a disgusted look as he went.

* * *

"Rachel, can I talk to you?" the young woman looked up in surprise at the Doctor's voice. "I'm sorry. I should have known you wouldn't…"

"Yes, you should."

The Doctor looked taken aback at her tone. "Well, you can hardly blame me…"

"Can't I?" she frowned at him. "Doctor, I don't want you to hate me."

They looked at each other in silence for a while. "I don't hate you, I just…" he paused, unable to express his feelings towards her, not sure if he wanted to. "I'll be leaving in a couple of days" The Doctor said, "TARDIS needs to refuel. So I guess I'll, um…"

"Yeah" she gave him a small smile, which hid the heartbreak inside.

* * *

**R&R please :D**


	13. Forgiveness

"Hi"

The Doctor looked up to see Rachel standing over him. He felt a familiar stabbing sensation in his hearts. It had been 3 days since the whole 'Colleen Hartman/ Gahl-Hoor' fiasco, and he still felt hurt and betrayed whenever he looked at her. "Hi."

Rachel sat down awkwardly beside him. He waited for her to speak, not looking at her. "Umm…would it be ok if I…I mean, you might not still have any of it, but if you do…umm, could I get some of my stuff out of the TARDIS?"

The Doctor paused, remembering his 'conversation' with Owen. "Sure. You can go and get it now, if you want."

"Thanks." She lifted a hand, as if to touch his face, but then seemed to think better of it and started to walk away.

"Rachel?" she turned, a hopeful expression on her face. "you can give me back your TARDIS key copy when you're done."

"Oh. Yeah sure, ok." The Doctor watched her leave, trying to ignore the pains in his hearts at the look of sorrow in her eyes.

* * *

"Coffee, Gwen? Toshiko?"

Toshiko turned her head briefly in Ianto's direction and nodded curtly. Gwen just ignored him. Ianto sighed and walked into the kitchen. He would make Gwen a coffee anyway, even though he knew it would sit there and go cold, untouched, just like the numerous other cups he had made her over the past three days. Rachel had told him to hold on, that it would take time for them to forgive him. But he didn't want to have to wait. It hurt him that he could no longer talk to his colleagues, not properly. Owen was getting over it ok, but then he was the one who had gone through the least out of the group. And even he was slightly wary, Ianto would catch him watching him sometimes, as though he was checking he wasn't planning anything else. And of course, then there was Jack… Ianto picked up the two cups of coffee and took them back out to the girls, putting them down on the desks. Toshiko gave him a small smile of thanks. Gwen blanked him completely.

"Oh, thanks, Ianto. Very nice of you to get me coffee." He muttered sarcastically as he headed back to the Tourist Office. He glanced up at Jack's office and caught Jack's eye for a split second, before the man turned away. Ianto felt like crying.

It was half an hour later when Gwen brought him out a pile of folders to go through. She dumped them on his desk and left without saying a word. Ianto had never realised how much he would miss her good natured chatter. He picked up the pile and selected a folder at random, frowning when his hand encountered something wet. He opened the file and saw that it was stained with brown liquid. He opened another file. It was the same. All the files were ruined, covered in coffee stains. Ianto felt anger rising up in his chest. Ok, so he'd made a mistake. Maybe he shouldn't have gone along with Rachel's plans, maybe he should have told them what was going on, but he'd only done all that to protect them. He didn't deserve this.

Gwen jumped slightly as Ianto slammed the folders down onto her desk. "Gwen? What happened to the files?"

"Oh, sorry." She said, not looking remotely so. "I guess I must have spilt that coffee you brought me." Ianto picked up the files and turned to leave. He had to ignore this, had to ride it out… "I guess you'll have to type them out again, wont you." Even though his back was turned, Ianto could hear the smirk in Gwen's voice. He turned around, anger flaring up inside him suddenly and hurled the folders at her chair. She jumped violently and swung around to face him, glaring.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" she demanded.

"For fucks sake, Gwen! I am sick and tired of walking on fucking eggshells when I'm around you! I know what I did was wrong, ok, and I'm sorry, but you're acting like a bloody five year old! Everyone's fine, aren't they? So what the FUCK is your problem? Stupid bitch!"

Gwen stared at Ianto, open mouthed. She hadn't been expecting him to make an outburst like that. Truth be told, she hadn't really thought about what she was doing, had just resorted back to the little tricks from her school days when she had wanted to get back at a person who had wronged her. Ianto yelling at her like that, it – well – it made her feel ashamed. She wasn't at school anymore. She glanced across at Toshiko, who was looking a bit guilty as well.

"I'm sorry Ianto. I took it too far."

"Damn right you did. I'm not your bloody servant, and I never will be, no matter what I did wrong. Type the files up again yourself." With that, Ianto swung about and headed back to the Tourist Office, a small smile on his face. He felt he had taken a step closer.

* * *

The Doctor sat on the invisible lift step, watching the world go by. It had been nearly an hour since Rachel had gone to collect her stuff, and he didn't want to go back to the TARDIS until she had gone. He didn't know what he might do if he had to face her. He looked up when he felt someone walk close by him, and realised it was Gwen. He stood and got off the step, suddenly emerging into view and giving the young woman a fright.

"Oh! Doctor, don't do that! I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sorry." He said, grinning. "So, what brings you out here?"

"Ianto just yelled at me. I guess I deserved it, I've been acting like a right cow. What about you? I thought you'd be going by now."

"I will, it's just Rachel needs to get her stuff out of the TARDIS."

"Not taking her with you then? Cant say I blame you."

"Well, she's staying here, isn't she?"

Gwen gave him a look. "You can't be serious! After everything she's done! Dunno why Jack doesn't just retcon her and Ianto both."

The Doctor frowned at her. "Hang on, that's a bit harsh. They were only…"

Gwen looked at him, her face stony. "Why? You don't want her, why should we? Why the interest in what happens to her?"

"Because I love her, and I want her taken care of, no matter what she's done!"

Gwen's face softened and she sighed. "I know you love her, I know you do, she was your best friend. I feel the same way about my friends. But you have to let her live her own life, you can't keep looking out for her…" but the Doctor had stopped listening. That wasn't what he meant, it had just slipped out…

"I have to go." He said suddenly, and set off at a run, leaving a very puzzled Gwen behind him.

* * *

The Doctor swung the door to the TARDIS open, and looked around. It looked empty. Had she been and gone already? At that moment, Rachel emerged from one of the rooms carrying a bag. She looked surprised to see the Doctor there.

"Don't worry, I'm nearly done" she told him, struggling to pick up a box with one hand. The Doctor walked over and helped her. "Thanks." She muttered. She began to walk towards the doors, then stopped and turned around. "Look, Doctor, I'm sorry for everything that happened. I never meant for you to get hurt, not physically anyway, that was all Colleen's sick little idea. I wish it could have happened differently, I mean, you weren't even supposed to be here, this was all planned long before you showed up. I know I don't deserve forgiveness. But I just need you to know that I truly am sorry."

The Doctor looked at her. He took in her long chocolate-coloured hair, her beautiful blue eyes, so full of regret. He smiled at her. "I know you are. I'm sorry too, I never should have treated you the way I did."

She smiled, a little sadly. "Goodbye Doctor." She whispered, and started to leave, tugging open one of the huge doors. The Doctor watched her, feeling as though his hearts might break.

"Don't go." He didn't realise he had spoken aloud, only realised when the young woman turned to stare at him, confused.

"What?"

He breathed heavily. He hadn't meant to say this, but he had started it off. "Don't go. Please don't leave me." Rachel stared at him, uncertain.

"Doctor, please don't do this to me. Please."

He held her gaze. "Do what?"

"This. Play with my feelings like this. You keep changing your mind about how you feel. I mean, first you want me here, then you don't, then you do again. I can't keep doing this. I mean, we were mates, yeah? But I was always living in the shadows as far as you were concerned. I may not deserve more than that, but I want it. Find some other girl to keep you company." Tears in her eyes, she pulled the door open. The Doctor strode across the console room and pushed it shut again.

"I don't want 'company'," he said quietly, looking into her eyes. "I want you." Then, without thinking about it, just an automatic reaction to the situation, he kissed her. Rachel just stood there, unresponsive. The Doctor pulled back after a few seconds, feeling foolish. "I'm sorry, I…" his words were cut off as he felt her lips press against his own. He kissed her back, slightly harder, and felt his knees buckle slightly as her mouth moved against his. He put his hands around her body, just as much to keep himself upright as it was out of passion. Her tongue rubbed against his lips, demanding entrance, and he opened his mouth, deepening the kiss, making it more passionate. He loved the feeling of the young woman pressed against him, the feel of her hands in his hair. He could think of nothing but her. He pulled away and began to kiss and bite her neck, smiling slightly at her gasps of pleasure. He raised his head and his lips located her mouth again, kissing her forcefully. "I love you." He whispered into her mouth and felt the young woman tense and pull back, looking searchingly into his face, as though looking for some sort of trick.

"What did you just say?" she asked softly.

"I said I love you. I always loved you, I just never realised how much until now. I've never felt this before, not for a human, I…I don't want to have to leave without you."

She continued giving him that searching look. "What about Rose?"

He felt his hearts give a jerk at the name. "I loved Rose. But not in the same way. I was never _in _love with her, not like I am you…" he broke off, realising how stupid that sounded, but at the same time realising how true those words were. He _had _loved her. But, given the choice, he knew he would pick Rachel every time.

He looked at Rachel, uncertainly, suddenly fearing he had made a mistake in telling her how he felt. "I'm sorry, I should never have said anything, I'm…"

"Did you mean it?"

"Sorry?"

"Did you mean it. When you said you loved me, and you'd never felt it before. Did you mean it?"

"Every word."

Rachel moved towards the Doctor, watching him until her vision grew fuzzy as their faces were so close. He could taste her breath in his mouth, feel her heart beating next to his. Then she kissed him again. Slower, deeper than before. He felt a surge of adoration for the girl kissing him, but it terrified him, too. He had generally tried to keep a distance, tried not to get involved with his companions. It was a plan that had worked well for 900 years. Until now. "We should go back to the Hub." He murmured into her mouth.

"Yeah." But neither of them made any move to leave. Rachel's hands moved to his shirt, unbuttoning it, undoing the tie...

DEE-DAA-DEE-DAY

They both jumped apart as her phone rang, like embarrassed teenagers caught making out by their parents. Panting slightly, Rachel answered the phone. "Yes?"

The Doctor buttoned up his shirt, disappointed by the interruption, but also rather grateful. He didn't want anything to happen in the heat of the moment that they might regret later. Well, that she might regret. He knew he wouldn't.

"That was Ianto." Rachel told him, hanging up. "He wants me back at the Hub." She opened the door and stepped outside, then paused. "What did that mean, Doctor? Am I coming with you?"

"Do you want to?"

She ran back in and kissed him again, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I'll take that as a yes then, shall I?" he asked, grinning down at her.

* * *

**Sorry, but i do love a bit of fluff :D R&R please!**


	14. Farewell

Ianto looked up as Rachel and the Doctor came strolling into the tourist office, laughing and holding hands. They broke apart when they noticed him, causing him to laugh out loud.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" he asked, smiling at the expressions on their faces.

"What? why would you ask that?" Rachel stammered.

"Doctor, you have lipstick on your neck."

"Oh." Rachel turned and wiped the lipstick off him, blushing furiously.

"So, I guess you guys made up then?"

"Oh yes." The Doctor grinned, pulling the young woman to him. She giggled happily and kissed him. Ianto cleared his throat and they both jumped, as though they had forgotten he was there.

"So, how about you? How're they other treating you?"

"Owen's been ok, he's just being like he always was. Gwen and Tosh have been ignoring me, and Gwen's been playing stupid tricks, but I…"

"Oh yeah, Gwen told me you yelled at her. Seemed to give her quite a shock!"

Rachel looked between the Doctor and Ianto in surprise. "You yelled at her? Go Ianto!"

"Yes, well." The young man felt absurdly pleased at her praise. He never really yelled at people.

"And…um…Jack?" Rachel asked delicately. Ianto's face clouded over.

"Jack doesn't even acknowledge my existence."

"Aw, babe." Rachel looked at a complete loss, unsure how to comfort her friend.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" She looked at the Doctor, surprised.

"Would you?"

"Sure, anything for a friend of yours. Ianto?"

"Thanks Doctor. I'm sorry for blaming you for Canary Wharf, I know it wasn't your fault really, I was just…" he tailed off, unsure how to finish his sentence. The Doctor waved a hand at him, looking vaguely embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, forgotten already." The demented grin appeared suddenly on his face. "So, Jack! I'll see you in a bit." He told Rachel, kissing her lightly on the lips and hurrying off into the Hub. Ianto watched Rachel for a bit, smiling. She turned as she felt his gaze on her.

"What?"

"Nothing." He replied. "it's just, well, you look so happy. I never saw you look like that before." She smiled, and Ianto was suddenly struck by how pretty the girl could be. It was like the sun coming out. He suddenly missed Jack's smile.

"Listen, Rachel. Could I ask you something…?"

* * *

Jack sat alone in his office, nursing a drink. The lights were switched off, but he didn't really notice, his whole world seemed grey and dark now. He sighed and downed the glass in front of him, wincing slightly as the alcohol burned his throat. How had he come to this? He'd been alive for so many years, cared about, and lost, so many people. But he'd promised himself he would never feel like this.

"Jack?" he looked up as the Doctor walked in. He smiled at him.

"Doctor."

"Could you turn a light on? It's a bit dark in here, isn't it?" Jack suddenly realised he was right, and switched on his desk lamp, blinking slightly as his eyes adjusted to the glare. "Jack, are you alright? You look terrible."

"Thanks" he replied, smiling slightly. "Drink?"

"No, thanks." The Doctor paused. "I've…I've seen Ianto. He doesn't look so great either." Jack merely grunted. "Look, why don't you talk to him…"

"I don't want to talk to him. I don't even want to look at him. Look, no offence but can you leave me alone please?"

"But…"

"Doctor, just get the hell out of here, ok?"

"Ok, ok, I'm going" the Doctor said, eyes wide and holding up his hands as though Jack might shoot him. Jack watched him as he left, already regretting his sudden outburst. It wasn't really the Doctor he was angry with, he knew that. He saw Rachel and Ianto enter the Hub, together, and stop the Doctor, talking to him and glancing up at the office. _To hell with the lot of them_ Jack thought, darkly, as he poured himself another drink.

* * *

"You ok, Gwen?" she looked up to see Toshiko watching her, curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, Ianto…"

"You're not still upset about that, are you? I mean, he was bound to crack eventually, it could have been at any of us…"

"That's not what I mean, Tosh." Gwen sighed, trying to think how best to express herself. "Why did he do it, you know? I mean, he knew Rachel for about 5 seconds compared to the rest of us, but it was her he got involved in the scheme with, her he got to help him…" Toshiko frowned.

"I'm not sure I see your point…"

"Did we exclude him? I mean, hell, she pulled a fucking gun on him and he still seems to trust her with his life. And then, today when he yelled at me…"

"let it go Gwen…"

"How can I? it's true, I am a stupid bitch. I should have seen it coming…"

"Gwen?" she looked up to see the Doctor standing over her. "I just wanted to say goodbye. And thanks."

"For what?"

"Making me see sense about Rachel. She's going to be coming with me, by the way."

"Oh…well…glad someone's happy." She stood up and grinned. "Good luck!" she said hugging him.

"Thanks. I have a few things to sort out, then I'll say a proper goodbye to everyone." With that, he turned and left. Gwen saw Ianto walking out of the archives and smiled at him. he grinned sheepishly and hurried out after the Doctor. Gwen sighed. She may have a lot of ground to cover. But so did he.

* * *

"Jack?" Jack looked up at the Doctor standing in his doorway. It had been almost three hours since he had yelled at him. "Are you going to bite my head off if I come in?"

"I'm sorry about before. It's just, well, it's all a bit much, you know?"

"Yeah." He paused. "Listen, I just wanted to say goodbye."

"You're leaving? TARDIS fully fuelled then?"

"Yeah, we'll be leaving in a few minutes."

"Oh. Ok…wait 'we'?"

"Me and Rachel. She's coming with me."

Jack looked at the smile on his friends face and felt his heart ache. "She's going too? After everything she did?"

"Don't start Jack, please."

"Sorry." The Doctor stood there for a little longer, looking awkward.

"Anyway, I had better go and check on…something" he said, and headed towards the door.

"How did you do it, Doctor?" He turned and looked quizzically at Jack. "What got you to the point where you could forgive her?"

The Doctor clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "I don't know. I guess I just realised how I felt, realised that I wanted to be with her. And for that to happen I needed to let go of any mistakes she had made and move on."

"And what if you can't?" he asked softly.

The Doctor looked at Jack. "Do you love him?"

"Huh?"

"Ianto. Do you love him?"

"Yes. I wish to God I didn't, but I can't help it."

"Why are you angry, Jack?"

"What? I would have thought that was obvious."

"Not really, no. I mean, technically they did nothing wrong. So what is it that's made you so angry? Is it what he did? Or is it the fact that he did it without you, didn't tell you his plan?"

Jack remained silent. The Doctor sighed. "They say that life's too short to hold a grudge. You're finding out the hard way that that's true."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The Doctor opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, and then closed it again. He thought for a few seconds, and then tried again. "Look, Jack…just…think. How would you feel if he was gone? If you woke up tomorrow and he wasn't here, wasn't coming back? Think about it."

"What about trust? How can I trust him again?"

"That comes back to my original question of 'why are you angry?'" he sighed. "If you love someone, trust will come back." He said softly. "Look, Jack…"

"Yeah?"

The Doctor looked at him, frustrated, as though he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how. "Nothing" he said at last, and then left the room.

* * *

About 10 minutes later Jack emerged from his office. "Doctor gone, yet?" he asked Gwen.

"He left a few minutes ago. You might be able to catch him if you move fast."

"Thanks. Will you come with me?" she looked up at him, confused.

"Sure, Jack."

She climbed after him onto the lift and they started to ascend, emerging into a typical cloudy day. "Come on, they can't be that far ahead." Gwen told him and they set off. They had only gone a few meters, however, when Gwen stopped. "Is that Ianto?" she asked, pointing. Jack followed the direction of her arm. Sure enough, just ahead of them was Ianto.

"Where the hell is he going?" Jack said softly. "IANTO!" he bellowed. The young man froze and turned his head at the sound of his name. Jack's eyes locked with his.

And then they were whipped apart by the car that slammed into Ianto, flinging him 6 feet into the air, then back down with a sickening thud. Jack felt the world hitch. _Ianto…_ he couldn't breath, couldn't think, couldn't see anything but the man lying in the road. _Ianto! IantoIantoIanto… _he heard people yelling, but he didn't understand them, didn't care. He hadn't realised he'd started running until he saw Gwen beside him, struggling to keep up. He fell to the floor beside the fallen Welshman, gasping back tears as he saw the blood trickling down his beautiful face. "Ianto…" he couldn't be dead, he just couldn't be. He had faced creatures that would give most grown men nightmares, coped in situations that would have driven others mad. He couldn't be killed by something so ordinary, so _mundane_, as a human in a car. He felt hands try to pull him away, try to get him to leave Ianto, but he couldn't. He had to stay with him…

"Jack." Gwen's voice. "Jack, come on now, let them do their jobs." He backed off and let the paramedics close around Ianto. Where the hell had they come from? How did they get here so fast?

"Is he ok?" he choked, gazing desperately at the young man's face, willing him to open his eyes.

"He's breathing" the paramedic announced. "But we need to get him to hospital, now!"

Jack watched as they loaded Ianto into the back of the ambulance. He was aware that Gwen was speaking to him, but he couldn't hear the words. All he could think about was the Doctor's voice, playing over and over in his head.

_How would you feel if he was gone…?_


	15. Hospital

Gwen looked across at Jack, worried. He hadn't said a word in the 2 hours they had been in the hospital. "Jack? Jack, he'll be ok. They'll look after him."

Jack looked as if he hadn't even heard her. "Do you know what the last thing I said to him was?" Gwen shook her head. "Neither so I. I haven't spoken to him in days." A tear rolled down his cheek, unchecked.

"Jack, he knew how you felt"

"What if he dies, Gwen? What if he dies and the last thing I said to him was an insult?"

Gwen surreptitiously looked at her watch, and Jack noticed the movement. "Go home to Rhys. I'll be fine here."

"You sure?" he nodded, and Gwen got up.

"Call me if you need anything." And then she was gone.

Jack looked up quickly as a nurse walked towards him. "Mr Harkness?" he nodded. "Your friend just came down from theatre, everything was a success – but, he is in a coma. He's been put in the ward, if you want to go see him?"

Jack stared at the unconscious figure lying on the bed before him. Ianto looked so pale, his beautiful mouth obscured by tubes. Machines beeped around him, measuring his heart rate, his breathing. Just to let everyone know he was still alive. Jack sat down beside the bed and took his hand. "Ianto…" he felt a wave of sadness crash over him. He looked so fragile. "I am so sorry Ianto. Please wake up. Please." He squeezed the younger man's hand, but got no response. "Come on Ianto. We need you. Who else are we gonna get to make us coffee?" he attempted to laugh, but just sobbed. He rubbed his eyes furiously. He didn't want the hospital staff to see him like this. "Come back to me Ianto…" he broke off as the door to Ianto's room flew open.

"Ianto! I…oh" Jack turned around to see an attractive middle-aged woman followed closely by a young girl, about 18. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise Ianto had any visitors…"

"Don't worry about it. I was just thinking I should leave. You must be Ianto's mother" he recognised her from the few pictures in Ianto's flat.

"Yes, hi, I'm Sylvie, and this is Lowri, Ianto's sister." she indicated the girl. "Mr…?"

"Harkness. I'm Ianto's…boss"

"Oh, it's so nice of you to come see him. I was so afraid he'd be on his own…"

Jack smiled at the two women around Ianto's bed. He turned to go. "Does his girlfriend know? About the accident?" _Girlfriend? _Jack froze, feeling his heart split. He hadn't thought it would be possible for Ianto to hurt him anymore than he already had. All those times Jack had gazed into his lovers eyes, trying hard not to think of a future, kids, a white picket fence. Had Ianto been thinking about someone else? Counting down the seconds until he could slip away to be with her…? Fixing a fake smile on his face he turned around. "Girlfriend? I…I didn't know he had one."

"Oh, well, he was so secretive about her." Sylvie stroked Ianto's hair, softly. "Honestly, I was so happy when I found out about her. He never speaks about her, but he gets this little smile on his face when he's asked about his love life, I can tell she makes him really happy. He was so miserable after that terrible accident in London killed Lisa, she was his old girlfriend by the way, and it was a relief to see him getting on with things." She turned to Jack. "I think it's someone from work."

_What the hell? Toshiko? Gwen?? _"From work? Do you have a name?"

"Sorry love."

"I'll ask around. Bye, Mrs Jones. Lowri." He walked out into the corridor and leaned against the wall.

"Jack!" he looked around to see Rachel and the Doctor running up the corridor towards him. "Jack, we heard what happened. Is he ok?"

"He's stable. But he's in a coma…" Jack felt the tears start up again. "His mom's with him now."

"Oh, Jack…" Rachel looked helplessly at the Doctor, as if asking him what to do.

"She told me he…had a girlfriend." Jack continued, looking up at Rachel.

"A girlfriend? Nah, he would have told me…"

"Someone from work, apparently." He said, staring at her accusingly.

"From work? But there's only Gwen and Toshiko…"

"…and you." Jack finished. Rachel felt the Doctor's hand tighten, vice like, around her arm and realised what the two men were thinking.

"You think…that I….that me and Ianto? ...no! Ianto's my friend, nothing more." She looked into the Doctor's eyes. "Nothing more." His grip relaxed and he smiled at her.

"Sorry"

"Not a problem." She patted his cheek and Jack looked at them sharply, frowning. There was something a little too…familiar…about their body language. _The Doctor and Rachel? Seriously? _He was about to say something, when Ianto's door opened and Lowri stepped out.

"Hey Lowri." Rachel muttered, stepping forward and pulling the young girl into a hug.

"Hey, Rach? You alright?" she smiled sadly. Rachel looked over to see the Doctor staring at her with raised eyebrows.

"What? We were friends, I met his sister." The eyebrows remained raised. "We're friends! Cut it out!" she slapped him good naturedly on the arm.

"Is this him?" Lowri asked, looking critically at the Doctor. "The one you were telling me about…"

"WE really don't need to get into that" Rachel interrupted, hurriedly, ignoring the quizzical look the Doctor had just given her. "Can I see him?"

"Sure. You coming too?" Lowri led the Doctor and Rachel into the room, leaving Jack, once again, alone in the corridor.

* * *

It was half an hour later that Owen arrived, carrying a couple of bags. "Hey, Jack. How is he?"

"No change." Jack sighed and rubbed his face. "What's in the bags?"

"Oh, well, I thought Ianto might want some of his stuff. I brought you some of yours, too, in case you wanted to, you know, stay here."

Jack was touched at this thoughtfulness. "Thanks, Owen."

At this moment Rachel and the Doctor emerged from the room. Owen blinked, surprised. "I thought you had left?" he asked the Doctor. Rachel answered him.

"We were going to, but we had to…um…we saw something going on, and when I realised what had happened to Yan…" she broke off.

"We?" Owen asked looking at the Doctor.

"We." he said. They stared at each other, and then Owen gave a little nod.

He turned to Jack. "Well, I'd better be off. Call me if you…"

"If I need anything, yeah. Thanks, Owen."

Rachel was looking between Owen and the Doctor. "What the hell's going on? What was with the little macho staring match thing?"

The Doctor and Owen both flushed slightly. "Nothing" the Doctor said. "Owen and I just had…um…a little disagreement about…well, that's not important. Everything's fine now."

"Yeah." Owen said, and quickly walked away. If Rachel found out he had nearly hit the guy on her behalf, she would never let him live it down…

* * *

"Hey, Ianto." Jack said softly, sitting down next to him. Sylvie had gratefully accepted his offer to sit with Ianto whilst she went to get something to eat. "Owen brought you some of your things. Not sure you'd be too happy about that, come to think of it, that would mean he's been in your flat…" he squeezed Ianto's hand, hoping for a response. Nothing. He opened the bag Owen had brought, and began unpacking Ianto's things. A few pictures (Jack decided not to leave the one of him and Ianto in a restaurant – his mother might wonder why he went out socialising with his boss. Not to mention why his boss was kissing him on the cheek), hairbrush, cologne, razor, and a few sets of pyjamas. Jack noticed that one of the pairs Owen had brought were actually his. He must have left them at Ianto's last time he stayed over. As he pulled them out of the bag, a book fell to the floor, scattering pieces of paper. Jack looked down and saw that it was Ianto's diary. He began to put it back in the bag, and then paused, looking at the object in his hand. Could he do it? Read the other man's diary? Jack looked across at Ianto's sleeping face. He wouldn't like it. But then again, Jack wondered if maybe the diary would tell him who this 'girlfriend' was, who had stolen his lover from him…_screw it_ he thought and, flipping the diary open to a random page, he began to read.

* * *

**whew, finally got this chapter up! please leaves reviews, they brighten up my day :P**


	16. Ianto's Diary

____

January 6

_th_

_Jack's back. After so many days wondering, hoping I'd see him again, and he just comes swanning back in as if he'd never been away. That smug grin stuck on his face. That was soon wiped off once Gwen laid into him though. He told us he had been off with 'his doctor', whoever that is. And then he looked straight at me and told me he came back for me. Oh God, I hate that he can still make me feel all tingly inside when he says stuff like that. I sound like a bloody schoolgirl. Then that was all spoilt by his old 'friend' john turning up. It was clear they meant a lot to each other at one point. Sent us off on some wild goose chase after bombs or something. Still, main highlight was that Jack asked me out on a date! A proper date: dinner, movie, the works. The closest we've ever come to going out in the past is doing it in the SUV on the side of a road. Still, mustn't get too excited, this is still Jack we're talking about……_

* * *

_January 8__th_

_Went round for tea at mums today. Note to self: never take your phone with you when you do that! Jack called in the middle of desert so, being me, I went out into the kitchen to take the call. It wasn't about work either! He was just…calling. Like he finally sees me as a person who exists outside the Hub. When I eventually hung up I turned around to see mum standing in the doorway, listening! Good thing it wasn't about work really. Now she's got it into her head I've got a girlfriend. I let her think it, acting all bashful and evasive. It made her smile. When she asked me, for a minute I thought about telling her the truth, about me being bisexual and sleeping with a man. Yeah, that would have gone down well: "actually, mam, no I don't have a girlfriend. I have a boyfriend, Jack. Oh, and don't worry about not getting any grandkids, because he's from the 51__st__ century and men can get pregnant then! Isn't it fantastic?!" I don't know how she'd react if she knew, she's so traditional. Just like dad used to be…still, I don't need to worry about that yet. Jack's great, but it's still early days……_

* * *

_January 11__th_

_I don't know what to think anymore. Jack keeps sending out such mixed signals about everything. It's only been four days, and already I'm confused. Still haven't had that date, and I'm starting to think maybe we wont ever. I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Just disappointed. He seemed so genuinely nervous when he asked me out. It was sort of sweet. And he was so sweet on the phone. But for the past 2 days we seem to have fallen back into the old routine of constant innuendo and then me 'working late' after the others have gone home……_

___

* * *

_

January 22

____

_nd_

_Sent Tommy back today. It still makes me feel slightly sick, the fact that we sent a man home to die. Tosh's face after he left was a nightmare. Damn near broke my heart. But the thing is it mirrored exactly how I felt when Jack just took up and left. And what does that make me? He obviously doesn't care as much as I do. Although he did open up to me slightly about his life earlier, followed by a very nice kiss…I just wish I knew how he felt……_

___

* * *

_

January 30

____

_th_

_He must think I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I fell for him, again. The day wasn't going great, Gwen's boyfriend finding out about us and then that big alien cow thing dieing, but I thought that maybe it would be ok. And then Gwen comes bursting back into the Hub yelling about how she refuses to retcon Rhys, like she cares about him so much. Didn't stop her shagging Owen though, did it? She actually said that she wouldn't mind being fired, she wouldn't know any different. And then Jack said 'I would'. The way he said it, it just made my stomach crawl…he sounded so upset, like he couldn't bear to be without her. Then Toshiko gave me this really pitying look over Jack's shoulder, so I know it wasn't me being paranoid. How could he humiliate me like that?..._

___

* * *

_

February 25

____

_th_

_Had a young girl come through the rift today. Rachel. Not sure if she's human, but if she is it's got to be a first, a healthy human coming through the rift. Not like those Jack keeps on The Island…just thinking about that place gives me the creeps. I don't know what the others would do if they ever found out. Jack didn't seem too bothered by the new arrival though, which was surprising. Not that she was that interesting, my stun gun knocked her out for quite a while. Jack hasn't even looked at me today, hasn't spoken to me properly, as in non-work stuff, since Gwen's wedding. Maybe I did wrong, cutting into that dance. But I couldn't bear it, not when he's made it so obvious how he feels about her. Didn't stop him taking full advantage of the empty Hub that night though……_

_

* * *

___

March 6

_th_

_I cannot believe what happened today. Jack only went and hired that little psycho bitch Rachel, didn't he? What the hell was he thinking, she's clearly unstable. She held me at fucking gunpoint for crying out loud! He wouldn't even explain why he did it, claimed he didn't even know, just 'felt he could trust her'. Probably fancies her, she has got a pulse after all. Well fine, if he won't confide in me, I won't confide in him. Colleen was in the café again today, trying to get me to join her, trying to convince me that it would be different... Maybe I should join her; it would certainly teach Jack a lesson. But no, I couldn't do that, even to him. Could I? Much as I hate it, I do still care for him. It sounds weird, I know, but I do……_

___

* * *

_

March 27

____

_th_

_Just told Colleen we would help her take over. Oh God. Not that Jack doesn't deserve a scare; he's been treating me like shit pretty much since the first week he came back. Sometimes I wish he'd never even come back, just stayed away, stayed with his doctor. Still, I can't shake this feeling like I'm doing something wrong. I don't want him to get hurt, I really don't……_

___

* * *

_

April 7

____

_th_

_I'm so worried about Rachel at that damn school. Jack doesn't even seem to care. I know she can handle herself, I know she can fight well. But she is only 19. It seems strange now to think that a month ago I would have quite happily killed her myself, now I'm worried sick about her. She's just such a good friend to me. I feel closer to than I do to Tosh, even. Definitely closer than to Gwen. I'm not happy about this cover story, why she had to be Jack's 'wife'. She loved it though; I saw her face when Jack told everyone their roles. I've tried to get Jack to send Rachel backup, but all he's done is offered to 'comfort' me. He says he misses me, because I can't stay at Toshiko's. All he really means is that he misses the sex. I remember when that would have sent shivers down my spine. But I can't let myself feel that way about him. Not anymore……_

___

* * *

_

April 21

____

_st_

_The Doctor's here. Jack's doctor. I got kidnapped by those bloody aliens, and when I woke up, he was here. I got fucking tortured and cloned, and all Jack cares about is 'his Doctor'. Oh, and the Doctor is also the person who abandoned Rachel, which was a surprise to me. I was thinking she would have told Jack. When she admitted to ret conning him, I almost laughed. Served him right. The hurt in her eyes when she used to talk about the Doctor, I don't know how the hell he thinks he can just waltz in here, like he's done nothing wrong. Colleen was thrilled when I told her he was here, her eyes lit up like I had just given her the best present. I wish he wasn't here. I can't help feeling a little jealous when I see the way Jack looks at him. And I don't want to; I want to be over Jack…… _

___

* * *

_

April 26

____

_th_

_Oh my God. Jack just told me he loves me. How the hell can I look him in the eye now? I can't think straight. Do I love him? He looked so scared when he realised what he'd said, and I probably didn't help things by running out of there as though he'd tried to kill me or something. How can I look him in the face everyday for the next two weeks? No, I can't wait that long to take over, I just cant……_

___

* * *

_

April 27

____

_th_

_Oh God. The look on his face…he looked so lost, so helpless. I just wanted to run over to him and hug him tight, tell him everything was going to be ok. What the hell have I done? What if this goes wrong and he gets hurt, or 'his Doctor' dies or something? I can tell Rachel's just as scared as I am, even if she won't admit it. Colleen wants me to take Jack down to the cells with her, says she has a little 'surprise' planned. I swear to God, if she hurts him I will get my revenge……_


	17. A Message

_His mom was wrong. There isn't anyone else. It's me, I'm his girlfriend. Well, maybe not 'girlfriend', given the masculinity. But what about the other stuff…? _

Jack jumped as the door opened suddenly. He quickly stuffed the diary back into the bag and began picking up the bits of paper that had fallen to the floor.

"Jack? What are you doing?" he looked up to see Rachel standing over him, eyebrow raised.

"I was just…uh…"

"You were reading his diary, huh?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Well, yeah. Hey Rach? Did he ever talk to you? About us, me and him I mean?"

She looked embarrassed. "Well, sometimes, yeah. He told me…before all this happened he told me that he didn't realise he meant anything to you. That your 'relationship' was anything more than physical…"

"He obviously didn't care enough about me to…"

"Jack, please don't start. Talk to Ianto when he wakes up, yeah? I need to get my bag, and then you can go back to invading Ianto's privacy." She smiled to show she was joking, and walked over and picked up her bag from where she'd left it earlier.

"You guys leaving?" Jack asked. She looked at him, horrified.

"No! How could I leave with Ianto like this! No, we're staying til I can talk to him."

Jack looked slightly apologetic. "Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then I guess."

"Yeah. Night Jack." And then she was gone. Jack bent back down to grab the pieces of paper, stuffing them back into the small leather diary. Hopefully Ianto didn't have system about where in the diary they were placed. Although, knowing Ianto, he probably would. He was about to put the last one in when he realised that it was an envelope. Addressed to him. He glanced at Ianto. Then, fingers trembling slightly, he slit open the envelope.

_

* * *

_

Jack.

_I guess by now you're wondering where I am, that's why you've looked in my diary. Either that or one of the others gave this to you, in which case you may not care what I've got to say. And if Gwen, Tosh or Owen has found this, and are reading it, stop being so bloody nosey and give it to Jack! I addressed it for a reason!_

_Anyway, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for everything that happened. I never meant for you to get hurt. It wasn't the cleverest thing I've ever done I'll admit, but I did what I thought was best to keep you safe, Jack. It was all for you. And now you won't even talk to me, won't even be in the same room as me. After I announced I was taking over, the look on your face…all I wanted was to run to you and hug you, but at that point it was too late. I've been thinking, these past few days, about a lot of things. Mainly about what you said when you were under the TruthSeyer's influence. Why couldn't you have talked to me before, Jack? Why couldn't you have told me how you felt? When you came back to us, after going off with the Doctor, you said you came back for me. You asked me on a date, Jack. And I was so happy about that. I would have done anything for you, but you had never shown any interest in me before other than sexually. Not that I ever complained mind you. But when you asked me out on that date, I thought it might change, I thought we could be a couple. And for a little while I think maybe we were. But you kept distancing yourself, the only thing that seemed to change was that you stayed the whole night at mine sometimes, or vice versa. So can you blame me for freaking out when you told me you loved me? Because I know that that's partly why you're angry. Because I didn't say it back. I distanced myself from you, didn't let myself love you, because I thought those feelings could never be returned. I can honestly say that if you had told me that a few months ago, none of this would have happened. Not Colleen, not our argument, none of it. I've gone away with Rachel and the Doctor, just to clear my head. If you care, call me. Please. Because I know that I could love you, Jack, if you'll let me. I really hope you call._

_Ianto xxx_

* * *

Jack blinked back tears as he finished reading the letter. He walked over to Ianto and sat on the edge of his bed. "Oh, Ianto…" he said softly, stroking the younger man's cheek. "How could I have got everything so wrong?"

* * *

The Doctor looked up from the screen on the console as the TARDIS door opened and Rachel walked in. "You ok? How's Ianto?"

"No change. Oh God, Doctor, why did this have to happen now?" silent tears began to run down the young woman's face. The Doctor instantly abandoned whatever he was doing and held her close to him, kissing the top of her head.

"Shh. Hey, it'll be ok, he'll get through this."

"It's not just that, it's Jack as well." The Doctor looked at her, puzzled. "When I walked in to get my bag he was reading Ianto's diary. You should have seen his face, Doctor, it was heartbreaking. I just…I need Ianto to be ok, you know? He was so upset about Jack; I need to see him happy…"

"You want to stay here until he wakes up, don't you?"

Rachel looked up at him. "You don't, I can tell."

"Well, I…"

"You know what? Why don't you just go?! See if I care. If you can't even stick around when my friend is fighting for his life…" she turned and tried to walk away from him.

The Doctor grabbed Rachel's hand and held on, tight. "No way. I only just got you back, there is no way I'm letting you out of my sight again." The Doctor tilted her chin up to face him and kissed her softly on the mouth. "I'll stay here 100 years if it would make you happy." He said when they finally broke apart. She smiled up at him through her tears.

"Thanks, Doctor. Sorry, I'm just all emotional right now. You mean so much to me, you know that, right?"

"I know. I love you." He smiled. It still felt weird to say those words and mean it, but in a good way. Rachel leaned up towards him and captured his mouth in a deep kiss. Oh yes, definitely in a good way.

**

* * *

**

One more chapter to go, I think! Keep reviewing guys, I luvs you all! :P

Elzbelz01: i did originally think of making Ianto have done it on purpose, but i didn't want Jack to be hated and if he drove Ianto to suicide, i didn't think i could realistically get him back to a point where he wasnt so i decided not to go there :)


	18. Coping

"You need to go and see him, Jack."

Toshiko and Owen sat in Jack's office, talking to him. He hadn't been to the hospital in a week, not since the night of the accident. He'd just sat in his office reading and re-reading Ianto's diary. It wasn't good for him.

"I let him down. If I hadn't been so angry with him, he wouldn't have tried to leave, and he wouldn't have been hit…"

Toshiko exchanged a look with Owen. "Jack, he would want you to be there."

"I can't, Tosh. How can I, knowing what I did…"

"It was a mistake, in the past, just like what Ianto did." Toshiko said firmly. They had all forgiven Ianto for his part in the whole 'takeover' escapade. It was a shame, she reflected, that it took his nearly dieing for them to forgive him. She had thought she was better than that, and it bothered her slightly.

"You could try talking to the Doctor…?" Owen suggested, mildly.

"No way. He was going to take him away from me without telling me. No, he's as much to blame as I am for the accident." Jack said firmly. Owen thought it was very telling that Jack appointed no blame to the driver of the car. Not that she could really be blamed too much. She, and all the witnesses who saw what happened, insisted that he had just stopped walking right in front of her car. She couldn't have stopped. But it would still have been a lot healthier for Jack to hold her responsible.

"Jack, you need to see him. I'm hoping for the best, course I am we all are, but don't you think you should see him, in case…?"

Jack got up and walked quickly into his private quarters. He couldn't think about that, he just couldn't.

Toshiko sighed and looked at Owen. "Think he'll go?"

"I hope so. As a member of the dead speaking, I can tell you it was great having you with me." "As in the whole team. All my friends" he said quickly. He didn't want to reveal his feelings for Tosh, not now he was dead. It wasn't fair on her. He caught sight of Toshiko's face. "Not that I'm saying he's going to die or anything! It's just...you know. He'd want to see Jack."

Toshiko sighed, as if annoyed. But secretly, she was pleased that Owen had said he was glad she was there when he died…

* * *

"Come on, Ianto, please. Wake up." Rachel looked at him. It scared her to see him lying there so helpless. She had never had to deal with things from this side before. Usually her and the Doctor were gone by now, leaving grieving friends and relatives to pick up the pieces. "The Doctor wants to leave. He doesn't like being stuck on Earth for too long. But I can't go until I know you're ok. Why did you stop, anyway? Why couldn't you have just come to the TARDIS when we planned? Why were you late?" she turned as the door opened and saw Sylvie Jones standing there. "Oh, hi Mrs Jones."

"Hello, love." The older woman sat down on the other side of Ianto's bed. "How's my boy?"

"No change. Have they told you when they're next going to try and take him off life support?"

"No. it's too soon after their last attempt…" both women fell silent, remembering the horror of a couple of days ago when it had been tried. Those awful minutes listening to him dying… "That man, Mr Harkness, he hasn't been in since the accident." Sylvie noted. "Guess he's not a caring boss-man more than he has to be."

"Jack cares. He does. He just doesn't…umm…look, its hard for him, ok?"

"Hard? Why? Is he the one in a coma? Or watching one of the people he cares about most in the world lying in front of him, knowing that every minute he doesn't wake up brings him closer to brain damage, or death?" Rachel said nothing. She knew Ianto hadn't 'come out' to his family, and she was not about to do it for him.

"He knows what its like, let's put it that way." She said quietly. Luckily, Sylvie seemed to accept this and let the subject drop.

"Haven't seen that girlfriend of his, either…" she said thoughtfully. Rachel thought this was not a subject change that was going in the right direction.

"Sylvie, when was the last time you went home?"

"Oh, I can leave him. He needs me. He's my little boy, my Ianto." Sylvie stroked his head lovingly, as though he were a small puppy.

"Sylvie, you need to go home. He's fine here, honestly he is. Go home, take a shower, have a good meal that doesn't come from the canteen. I will call you if anything changes, I promise."

Sylvie wavered. It was true that the idea of a hot shower and a good meal were very tempting. "Call me if anything changes. If he blinks when you weren't expecting it, I want to know."

"Ok. I'll see you later, yeah?" the older woman smiled and left. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close, eh? Why is it every conversation I have with your mother involves me covering for Jack? You should tell her you know. If you and Jack are gonna be together. Are you? You never did answer that did you? Did you even tell him you were leaving, coming with us in the TARDIS?" she looked at her friend.

"No." she jumped and looked around. Jack was standing beside her, watching Ianto. "No, he didn't tell me."

"Jack! You came! Where have you been?"

"You were going to take him. How could you not tell me, Rach? How could you and the Doctor just up and leave with the man I…without telling me?"

"He didn't want us to tell you. I thought - WE thought - that you needed time. And that's something the Doctor's very gifted with." She looked at him. "Do you want some time alone?"

"Yeah. Please."

Rachel took her cue and left. Jack took her seat and just sat there, staring at Ianto. He reached out a hand and stroked his lover's cheek. "You need to wake up now, Yan. The team need you. Torchwood needs you. It's not the same without you, I guess I never really realised how much you do. There's a stack of paperwork somewhere that needs doing. We're saving it for when you get back." He laughed, and felt tears prick behind his eyelids. "Oh, Ianto. Why didn't you talk to me?" even as he said it, Jack knew it wouldn't have helped if he had. He knew he wouldn't have listened. "I'm not angry about Colleen, not anymore. If I'm honest, I never was much. It was that on top of everything else. Because you were right, Yan. It hurt when I told you I loved you and you looked so horrified. It hurt, and I didn't like it. The thing is, you have no idea what its like to be me. To know that you are going to live forever, alone, whilst those around you wither and die. I tried, so hard, not to let myself love anyone. I told myself it was easier that way, that it would hurt less when people were gone. And so I put up walls, I distanced myself from everyone around me so that I wouldn't get too involved. But you somehow managed to break through the walls, you got under my skin. And you have no idea what that's like for me. To know that even if you spend the rest of your life with me, and no matter how much I love you, one day I'm going to wake up and not be able to picture your face, or remember your laugh or the way your voice goes all deep when you're excited. All the little things I love about you, and that scares me, Ianto. It really fucking scares me. And so I pushed you away, tried to make myself not love you. But I do Ianto." The tears fell more regularly now. "I really do. I need you, Ianto." He stood up, and placed a soft kiss on the other man's lips, being careful not to disturb the tubes. "I love you. Please, I know I'm going to have to live on without you, but I'm not ready. Not yet." he sat there, listening to the steady beeping of the heart monitor

_Beep…beep…beep…beep…_

"You know you want to wake up, yell at me for causing the accident in the first place."

…_beep…beep…beep…_

"Wake up, Yan."

…_beep…beep…beep…beep…beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…..._

Jack looked up in horror as the flat line sounded. He ran over to the door and flung it open wildly. "SOMEBODY HELP ME, PLEASE! DOCTOR!" he ran back into the room and took Ianto's hand.

"Get back please, sir." A nurse manhandled him out the way, so the doctors could get to Ianto.

Rachel was suddenly beside him, pulling out her mobile and ignoring the disapproving looks from the nurses. "I have to call his mother…"

Jack couldn't take his eyes off Ianto. One of the doctors tore his shirt open and placed orange pads on his chest. "Shocking, 140. Clear!"

BANG.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……………_

"Shocking, 360. Clear!"

BANG.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……………_

"Shocking, 360. Clear!"

BANG.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……………_

"Commence CPR!"

Jack felt faint with worry and fear. "Come on, Ianto, please. Fight, Ianto. You have to fight…"

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……………_

**

* * *

**

Ok, so I lied! This isn't the end; I'll do one more chapter, promise :)


	19. The End

**Ok, I finally got the last chapter finished! (unless I decide to do a sequel that is…) Read on!**

* * *

Jack looked out over the harbour. It was evening now, and the lights reflected prettily on the water. Well, as prettily as things were going to get in Cardiff, anyway. It was 3 days since Ianto had flat lined. Jack felt the tears sliding down his cheeks once more when he thought about it. He felt like he had cried more these past 2 weeks than altogether in his 200 years of life. Ianto… even thinking about him made Jack's chest hurt. He loved him so much. Rachel had been so good to him these past few days. Jack could barely even remember being angry with her, the 'takeover' seemed so long ago. He didn't know how he would have coped without her, she had been his rock. She had even helped them to shift some of the piled up paperwork. He knew she and the Doctor would be leaving soon though, and he would have to lean on one of the others if he needed support. Some things he had to do alone though, he hadn't wanted help. Packing up Ianto's stuff had been the hardest thing. He'd just broken down and sat there, sobbing into an old shirt that smelt like Ianto. Life was never going to be the same for him, not anymore….

"Hey." He felt a pair of arms slide around his waist, a chin rest upon his shoulder.

"Hey. I was just thinking about you." Jack turned and smiled at Ianto Jones. He really shouldn't be out of hospital yet, but he had insisted on discharging himself, saying Owen could take better care of him. Jack was forced to agree. "I finished packing up your stuff. We should be able to move in in a few days."

"Great!" the younger man smiled. He had woken up a few hours after the doctors had managed to stabilise him, and the first face he had seen had been Jack's. They had talked for ages, both of them continuously apologizing to the other. They had decided to stop messing about, to seize the day, and so they had bought a flat together. Jack's first proper home since he had left the Boeshane Peninsula.

"Have you been crying again?" Ianto asked suddenly. Jack flushed and wiped his eyes. Ever since Ianto had woken up he kept bursting into tears, so relieved not to have lost him. It sounded weird, but Jack couldn't help it.

"Did you speak to your mom? You know, about me? About us?" Jack asked, trying to change the subject. Ianto grimaced.

"Yeah. She cried a bit, and asked if it was her fault for not giving me a brother to play with. I think she thinks I was warped from playing Barbies with Lowri. Overall she took the news surprisingly well, actually, a lot better than I'd thought she would. Although I think you may have some explaining to do about why you didn't tell her. Lowri insisted she already knew, of course. Much too clever for her own good, that one. She takes after my dad so much its scary sometimes. Oh, and we're going round to mam's house for lunch on Sunday. Hope you don't mind."

Jack put his arm around Ianto and kissed the top of his head. He still couldn't believe how close he had come to losing him. Ianto had been so lucky. Ok, so he couldn't walk without crutches, and he still couldn't grip things with his left hand, but Owen thought that would only be temporary. At least he was alive.

"Hey, guys." They turned and saw Rachel and the Doctor, holding hands. "We're going now. Wanted to say goodbye properly."

"Bye Doctor, Rachel. And thank you." Jack hugged each of them in turn. Rachel turned to Ianto and grinned at him.

"Don't scare me like that again, ok? I'll see you round." She pulled him into a hug. "Call me if you need to, ok?" she whispered into his ear.

"I will. Bye, Rach."

The two friends broke apart and returned to the sides of their respective partners. Rachel looked lovingly at the Doctor and he squeezed her hand, wearing his familiar demented grin. "So," He said happily. "Ready for another adventure?"

"Always."

Then, with one last wave, they got into the TARDIS, and faded away to the familiar groaning, grinding engine noise.

* * *

"Where do you want to go?" asked the Doctor, grinning as he hit various buttons and levers, seemingly at random.

"I don't know. Surprise me."

The Doctor looked over at her. "Oh, don't sound too enthusiastic, will you?"

"Sorry. Its gonna seem weird only having you around." She noticed the look on his face. "Good weird though! Good weird." She put a hand on his face, smiling as he shivered slightly beneath her touch. "Still, it seems a shame to go whizzing off to find another adventure, now that we're finally alone…" she raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"Well…" the Doctor said, leaning his face towards hers. "We do have a lot of catching up to do…" he kissed her throat and felt Rachel dig her fingers into his back, her hands moving round his neck and removing his tie…

"Is it safe to leave the TARDIS flying unattended?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, I think she'll be ok for five minutes." Rachel pulled back and raised an eyebrow, questioningly. "Or, you know, an hour…"

Laughing, she pulled him back towards her for another kiss.

* * *

"I'm going to miss her, you know." Jack said.

"Me too. It was nice to have someone to talk to about, y'know, you-and-me stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love Gwen and Tosh, but I can't talk to them about you…"

"I know what you mean. Not sure they'd agree though. You know how they love to gossip about us…" Jack bent down and kissed Ianto, their tongues entwining, each of them pouring the depth of their feelings for each other into that kiss. They broke apart, Jack panting slightly, and smiled at each other. Jack turned back to stare out at the water, loving the warmth of Ianto beneath his arm, the feel of the other man's arm around his waist. He kissed the top of his head, smiling. Jack didn't care how long they were going to have together. It could be 70 years, could be 7 months. Hell, they could only have until tomorrow, because you never knew what was coming just around the corner. He smiled. However long they had, Jack knew.

He was going to make it count.

**

* * *

**

Finished! Hope you enjoyed it, all the reviews and stuff have been great. You guys are awesome!


End file.
